Injury-plagued David Nalbandian wins Washington title
David Nalbandian has put an injury plagued year-and-a-half behind him to win the title at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington.
The Argentinian arrived in the US capital with a wildcard into the tournament and a ranking of world No. 117 after missing most of the 2009 season recovering from the hip surgery he underwent in May last year and without having played a tournament since the Monte Carlo Masters 1000 during April after missing both the French Open and Wimbledon with a leg injury.
None of that seemed to matter, however, as Nalbandian dropped just one set on his way to the final, where he defeated eighth seed Marcos Baghdatis 6-2, 7-6(4) to seal his 11th career title and his first since winning the Sydney International at the beginning of last year.
"It has been a year and a half fighting with the surgery and the recovery; we are so happy and this victory made me feel very good again... not only with the rankings, with my game, with everything. It was a good win," Nalbandian said after winning the final and ensuring the Washington crown was claimed by an Argentinian for the third year running, with the injured Juan Martin del Potro winning back-to-back titles here in 2008 and 2009.
In the aftermath of the result, Nalbandian’s ranking has shot up to world No. 45 – the first time the 28-year old has been ranked inside the top 100 since January. A former world No. 3, Nalbandian was ranked inside the top-20 when he went under the knife last May.
After missing the remainder of 2009, Nalbandian sought to make his return to competitive tennis at the Heineken Open in Auckland this January but an abdominal tear sustained during practice there put paid to that plan, and to any hopes he’d had of playing at the Australian Open.
He ultimately returned on home turf in Buenos Aires during February, where he reached the quarter-finals, and repeated that feat at his fourth tournament of the year in Monte Carlo (where he lost to world No. 2 Novak Djokovic), before the leg injury again curtailed his season.
Nalbandian returned to the court to represent his country against Russia in the Davis Cup during July, and played a pivotal role in Argentina’s defeat of the hosts with victories over top-10 player Nikolay Davydenko and Russian No. 2 Mikhail Youzhny in the singles rubbers, form the right-hander brought with him to Washington, where his scalps included 13th seed Gilles Simon and fourth seed Marin Cilic as well as Baghdatis.
A protected ranking has ensured Nalbandian has gained direct entry into the US Open at the end of this month, and if he continues in the same vein the 2002 Wimbledon runner-up may just be one of the outsiders to watch in New York.
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