Five days ago, David Nalbandian was packing his things for a fishing trip in his native Argentina. Now he’s one match away from a place in the Masters Cup final.
Nalbandian (24) has found some great form since his late call-up to replace the injured Andy Roddick, taking Roger Federer to three sets before whitewashing Guillermo Coria and Ivan Ljubicic.
With $360 000 in the bank after his 6-2, 6-2 demolition of the fancied Ljubicic, the Argentine said the Masters had motivated him to step up his game.
”If I could play all the time like this, of course I would have a higher ranking, but it’s not easy playing always that good,” said the world number 12. ”I need a lot of motivation to play that kind of match.”
Nalbandian came into the tournament with just $873 486 in season earnings but with a strong record in big tournaments, having reached the Australian Open, Wimbledon and United States Open quarterfinals.
He led Federer 3-1 in the final set until the world number one recovered for victory, before blanking Coria and Ljubicic. He will face Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko in Saturday’s semifinals.
Nalbandian’s biggest catch to date is a shark, and he may be sniffing another opportunity after Federer was taken to his third three-setter of the $4,45-million season finale.
The Swiss master, recovering from an ankle injury, took the first set to love against the limping Coria but lost the second before winning the decider, stretching his unbeaten streak to 34.
He said he was strong enough to win his third consecutive Masters despite a tough weekend schedule, with Sunday’s best-of-five final coming less than 24 hours after the semis.
”I think it’s just this week, because of the preparation, I’m not at 100% fitness-wise because I couldn’t get the practice I needed on court with tennis or running on the running machine or being able to lift weights,” said Federer, who had not played since October 2.
”Again, it’s definitely going to get through this tournament. It’s only two matches left at most.”
Federer’s semifinal will be against the winner of Gaudio’s Gold group match with Gonzalez later on Friday. — Sapa-AFP