David Nalbandian battles past Xavier Malisse into the last four – AEGON Championships 2012
Former world number three, David Nalbandian of Argentina, fought back after losing the opener to outlast the 84th ranked, Xavier Malisse, in three sets 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-4 in the quarter-finals of the AEGON Championships
at Queen’s Club in London on Friday. It took the Argentinean one hour and 59 minutes to beat his Belgian opponent in a close contest.
Nalbandian and Malisse exchanged a break of serve in the first eight games and equalised the score at 4-4. The Belgian struck again in the ninth and consolidated on it to win 6-4.
Malisse banged in four aces and made one double fault in the opener, putting in 52 percent of the first serves and bagging 11 of the 14 points on them. The right-hander’s best weapon was his replies to his opponent’s second deliveries,
as he claimed 11 of the 14 points.
The Belgian and Argentinean served splendidly in the second set, as they did not lose even a single one until the end, levelling the score at 6-6 and taking it to a tie-breaker. Nalbandian gave his best performance on the crucial
moment, as he allowed the Belgian to win just two points and captured it 7-6(2).
The Argentinean bombarded six aces and 72 percent of the first serves on his opponent. He had a stunning conversion rate, securing 22 of the 23 first and seven of the nine second delivery points. Nalbandian’s return statistics
were also quite impressive, as he grabbed 10 of the 14 points on the second replies.
In the third set, both players held their serve in the opening eight games, taking the score to 4-4. Nalbandian hit the decisive blow in the ninth and served it out at 5-4.
The Argentinean smacked only one ace and did not commit any double fault in the final set. He had a below average first serve percentage of 60 but succeeded in converting 16 of the 18 of them into points. The 30-year-old converted
one of the two break points he received.
Nalbandian completed double duty, as he had already played a match earlier in the day. The Argentinean had won the contest in almost the same fashion, bouncing back after getting one set to love down to beat Edouard Roger-Vasselin
of France 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the third round.
The Argentinean is drawn to play the world number 72, Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, in the semi-finals.
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