David Nalbandian will go down as the all time greatest.... to be major less – Part II
The professional tennis player, David Nalbandian from Argentina continued the momentum of his Masters Cup 2005 win into the next season, advancing into the semi-final round of the Australian Open tennis tournament, thus completing his “semi Slam.” There,
David met the then pudgy, obscure and loveable tennis player from Cypriot, Marcos Baghdatis. Despite his two sets lead and being up at 4-2 in the final set, the Argentinean tennis ace once again collapsed, losing 6-4 in the decider.
At French Open tennis tournament in Roland Garros, David fought his way into the semis, grabbing the opening two sets from Roger and breaking the Swiss early in the next one.
The normally patient Federer was so flustered by David’s game that he destroyed his racket in a rare exhibit of anger. However, expectedly, a David win was not to be, as he was forced to withdraw.
After the 2006 French Open semis, David struggled to put together any notable appearance until the end of 2007. Out of nowhere, Nalbandian went on a tear unlike any in his professional life and unlike any in the career of any contender not called Rafael
or Roger, for that matter.
At the Madrid Masters tennis competition, David got the better of Tomas, Rafael, Del Potro, Novak as well as Roger in succession, registering his name as the third contender to beat the world’s top three players in a single competition.
The following week, David brushed aside Roger and Rafael again on his way to his second Master shield in a row, becoming the first tennis ace ever to beat the two in the same championship on two occasions, as well as the first player to get past them in
an ATP final.
Since then, Naldandian’s results have been middling at best, and have left his fans scratching their heads. The Argentinean may not be in the twilight of his professional life, however, he is at least in the late afternoon for sure; while David may still
be able to take out a big name or two in the majors, it is not sure that he will go all the way. Whether it is his interest in other sports, his injuries or his nerves, the experts are of the view that David will end his career without a major title.
What he has achieved, though, qualifies him as the all-time greatest to have never captured a major title. Outside of the current top three tennis players by the Association of tennis professionals, Nalbandian is the only man to reach the semi-final round
of all the four Grand Slam tournaments. In a period that highlighted two players who could each be the GOAT, David has held his own, having been famous as times as both Rafael’s and Roger’s kryptonite. His career highest ranking is world number three and in
the deepest period of men’s game to date, the Argentinean has successfully managed to finish in the top ten for five years in a row from 2003 to 2007.
Apart from Nalbandian, some other players who are also quite close to being the all-time greatest to be major less include Todd Martin and Miloslav Mecir. However, there is no doubt about the fact that David is more of an all-court contender than Todd, and
also possesses a more complete collection of shots. As far as Miloslav is concerned, it is a fact that the tennis player from Czech Republic has a more prolific professional life than David has had, capturing Olympic gold medal and making his way into a total
of two major finals. However, the Argentinean tennis ace has a slight edge over him as he is contesting in the era of Federer and Rafael.
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