David Nalbandian dumps Potito Starace to clear the opening round – BNP Paribas Open 2012
Argentine tennis veteran, David Nalbandian, exhibited the glimpse of his vintage form to defeat the 68th ranked Italian competitor, Potito Starace, in the opening round of the BNP Paribas Open on Friday. The former world
number three took one hour and 25 minutes to register a straight sets, victory, 7-6(4), 6-0, entering the second round of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Masters 1000 event.
Currently rated at number 74 in the world, Nalbandian kept his clean sheet against the Italian veteran, nailing him down for the fifth straight time to lead 5-0 all-time. It was his eighth win in the 2012 ATP season and a much
needed one also, as the Argentine has already suffered four defeats in the year so far. He took his time to get settled in the contest against Starace but once he got into his winning groove, the former world number three never looked back at his opponent.
His mighty forehand worked perfectly for him, as he belted a number of assertive winners down the line to devastate the confidence of his bleak opponent.
Nalbandian delivered 61 per cent of his first serve on target and claimed 26 out of 35 points on it, including six thudding aces. The unseeded Argentine crafted 12 break opportunities in the match but only converted four of them
to drive the Italian out of the season’s first Masters Series event in Indian Wells.
Gruelling tennis was witnessed in the opening set, with both men trading serve breaks early in the set to enforce a tie-breaker round into play. The 30-year-old Argentine brought his experience into play and rallied past Starace
to claim the decider 7-6(4). He went absolutely berserk in the next set and went for a six-game tear, striking three successive serve breaks to rocket away to victory at 6-0. A total of 129 points were played in the match and Nalbandian won 77 of them, while
Starace lagged behind with just 52 points to lose the matchup.
Nalbandian is up next up against the Croatian number one, Marin Cilic, in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open. The 24th seeded Croat will take off his Indian wells campaign from the second round, as he was among
the other 32 seeded players who received a bye in the opening round draw. The argentine veteran leads Cilic 3-0 in the all-time head-to-head combats and will be eying for an upset victory in the second round matchup on Sunday.
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