Down the T #4: David Nalbandian Interview

[Moxie]

Read what David Nalbandian had to say in response to your questions.

 

[calitennis127]

Thank you Moxie. Much appreciated.

 

[Kieran]

Very good, thanks to David Nalbandian for taking the time, and the team here for their efforts. I wonder if injuries held him back more than we know. He agrees about 2007 bring "at last" able to play without injuries. And look how great he was!

 

[nehmeth]

I wonder if injuries held him back more than we know. He agrees about 2007 bring "at last" able to play without injuries. And look how great he was!

Caught that too and wondered the same thing as I read it. That he qualified his year that way, I tend to believe injuries played a bigger role than he ever let on.

 

[isabelle]

Thanks for this interview with Kingdavid. Hope he have a nice life with Sossie, Victoria and all his friens. He gave tennis a lot, hope life'll bring him a lot of happy moments too
Good job from Moxie, a great woman

 

[shawnbm]

How you got him and some of the others I will never know--but a great big THANK YOU is in order! Who's next? Bjorn Borg?

 

[Front242]

Great work Moxie and Tennis Frontier. Fantastic to have interviews with such great players here. Like the others above I noticed he claimed 2007 was the one time he was injury free. Sad really if his progress was held back because of injuries as much as that implies. Already miss watching him play. A great player and those 2007 and end of 2005 performances were sublime.

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

How you got him and some of the others I will never know--but a great big THANK YOU is in order! Who's next? Bjorn Borg?

Next Moxie is going to arrange an interview with Edberg and that will really make me happy...What do you say Moxie? lease:lease:lease:

 

[Moxie]

How you got him and some of the others I will never know--but a great big THANK YOU is in order! Who's next? Bjorn Borg?

Next Moxie is going to arrange an interview with Edberg and that will really make me happy...What do you say Moxie? lease:lease:lease:

Well…when Shawn mentioned Borg, that caught my attention. I thought I'd try to do that one in person. :basiate We can try for Edberg…why not? We didn't think we'd get Nalbandian, but instead his people were incredibly receptive and gracious to us.

And thanks, all, for the kind words and encouragement. We're very excited about the future of our "Down the T" feature.

 

[Iona16]

An enjoyable read. Thanks Moxie.

 

[Riotbeard]

Great read. I think it says something that Davis Cup, not slams is his biggest, non regret, regret.

 

[calitennis127]

Great read. I think it says something that Davis Cup, not slams is his biggest, non regret, regret.

Yes, it certainly does. As someone who has read many interviews with Nalbandian over the years, I can tell you that this was very frustrating for me to hear from him time after time.

For pretty much everyone who plays and follows tennis, the Grand Slams and the MS events are most important in a player's career. Nalbandian went through much of his career, particularly the last 4 years, prioritizing Davis Cup ahead of these common goals for individual success. Heck, in 2010 he even skipped WIMBLEDON, yes WIMBLEDON, in order to better prepare for the Davis Cup quarterfinal against Russia.

Pure madness if you ask me. Skipping Wimbledon at age 28 to get ready for a Davis Cup quarterfinal? You have to be kidding me. As Brad Gilbert once remarked on Nalbandian's career, how can you win the Slams if you're not even playing them? Nalbandian has played - just PLAYED - over 20 less Slams than Federer.

That said, Argentina as a country highly values Davis Cup, and Nalbandian wanted to be the hero who brought the championship to them. One thing to this day that I will never forgive is the asinine decision on the part of the Argentine captain to not have Nalbandian play Nadal in the opening singles match of the 2011 final in Seville. It would have been a classic and Nalbandian would have had a legitimate shot of winning it. Instead, they brought out Monaco, only for him to lose in an hour on court. One of the most cowardly and stupid decisions I have witnessed from a coach.

 

[calitennis127]

I wonder if injuries held him back more than we know. He agrees about 2007 bring "at last" able to play without injuries. And look how great he was!

Caught that too and wondered the same thing as I read it. That he qualified his year that way, I tend to believe injuries played a bigger role than he ever let on.

You are much closer to the truth than you may realize. I learned over the years that Nalbandian is the ultimate con-artist when it comes to keeping quiet about injuries.

He almost pulled out before the Bercy final in 2008 with his right hip bothering him, but he was completely silent about it through the first four months of 2009. And then the big news came in early May about needing surgery.

In 2013, he very quietly skipped the Australian Open and played the Golden Swing, knowing full well that after the Davis Cup quarterfinal he was going to need the double surgery on his hip and shoulder.

 

[brokenshoelace]

Great read. I think it says something that Davis Cup, not slams is his biggest, non regret, regret.

One thing to this day that I will never forgive is the asinine decision on the part of the Argentine captain to not have Nalbandian play Nadal in the opening singles match of the 2011 final in Seville. It would have been a classic and Nalbandian would have had a legitimate shot of winning it.

Sure he would... Months after getting straight setted by Nadal on fast hard courts, he would have a legitimate shot to beat him on clay.

 

[calitennis127]

Great read. I think it says something that Davis Cup, not slams is his biggest, non regret, regret.

One thing to this day that I will never forgive is the asinine decision on the part of the Argentine captain to not have Nalbandian play Nadal in the opening singles match of the 2011 final in Seville. It would have been a classic and Nalbandian would have had a legitimate shot of winning it.

Sure he would... Months after getting straight setted by Nadal on fast hard courts, he would have a legitimate shot to beat him on clay.

Absolutely, he schooled Nadal for most of the first set at the US Open before Nadal's BS comeback.

And have you ever seen how passionate and intense Nalbandian was in Davis Cup matches? He was almost like a different person.

 

[brokenshoelace]

Great read. I think it says something that Davis Cup, not slams is his biggest, non regret, regret.

One thing to this day that I will never forgive is the asinine decision on the part of the Argentine captain to not have Nalbandian play Nadal in the opening singles match of the 2011 final in Seville. It would have been a classic and Nalbandian would have had a legitimate shot of winning it.

Sure he would... Months after getting straight setted by Nadal on fast hard courts, he would have a legitimate shot to beat him on clay.

Absolutely, he schooled Nadal for most of the first set at the US Open before Nadal's BS comeback.

And have you ever seen how passionate and intense Nalbandian was in Davis Cup matches? He was almost like a different person.

Yeah, I wonder how far that passion would have gotten him with a barely functioning hip, on clay, in Spain, against a physical freak who's only lost 1, yes ONE, best out of 5 set clay court match in his entire career.

 

[huntingyou]

Great read. I think it says something that Davis Cup, not slams is his biggest, non regret, regret.

One thing to this day that I will never forgive is the asinine decision on the part of the Argentine captain to not have Nalbandian play Nadal in the opening singles match of the 2011 final in Seville. It would have been a classic and Nalbandian would have had a legitimate shot of winning it.

Sure he would... Months after getting straight setted by Nadal on fast hard courts, he would have a legitimate shot to beat him on clay.

Absolutely, he schooled Nadal for most of the first set at the US Open before Nadal's BS comeback.

And have you ever seen how passionate and intense Nalbandian was in Davis Cup matches? He was almost like a different person.

Yeah, I wonder how far that passion would have gotten him with a barely functioning hip, on clay, in Spain, against a physical freak who's only lost 1, yes ONE, best out of 5 set clay court match in his entire career.

do people who entertain trollish posts can be consider trolls themselves?

 

[brokenshoelace]

One thing to this day that I will never forgive is the asinine decision on the part of the Argentine captain to not have Nalbandian play Nadal in the opening singles match of the 2011 final in Seville. It would have been a classic and Nalbandian would have had a legitimate shot of winning it.

Sure he would... Months after getting straight setted by Nadal on fast hard courts, he would have a legitimate shot to beat him on clay.

Absolutely, he schooled Nadal for most of the first set at the US Open before Nadal's BS comeback.

And have you ever seen how passionate and intense Nalbandian was in Davis Cup matches? He was almost like a different person.

Yeah, I wonder how far that passion would have gotten him with a barely functioning hip, on clay, in Spain, against a physical freak who's only lost 1, yes ONE, best out of 5 set clay court match in his entire career.

do people who entertain trollish posts can be consider trolls themselves?

It wasn't a troll post, I don't think. Just a ridiculous post. Which is worse in some ways.

 

[calitennis127]

Great read. I think it says something that Davis Cup, not slams is his biggest, non regret, regret.

One thing to this day that I will never forgive is the asinine decision on the part of the Argentine captain to not have Nalbandian play Nadal in the opening singles match of the 2011 final in Seville. It would have been a classic and Nalbandian would have had a legitimate shot of winning it.

Sure he would... Months after getting straight setted by Nadal on fast hard courts, he would have a legitimate shot to beat him on clay.

Absolutely, he schooled Nadal for most of the first set at the US Open before Nadal's BS comeback.

And have you ever seen how passionate and intense Nalbandian was in Davis Cup matches? He was almost like a different person.

Yeah, I wonder how far that passion would have gotten him with a barely functioning hip, on clay, in Spain, against a physical freak who's only lost 1, yes ONE, best out of 5 set clay court match in his entire career.

Uhhhh, get your facts straight. We are talking about the end of 2011, not 2012. Nalbandian's hip was fine at the end of 2011.

And with Nalbandian we are not talking about just any player. He has more in the way of shotmaking weapons than anyone.

 

[calitennis127]

One thing to this day that I will never forgive is the asinine decision on the part of the Argentine captain to not have Nalbandian play Nadal in the opening singles match of the 2011 final in Seville. It would have been a classic and Nalbandian would have had a legitimate shot of winning it.

Sure he would... Months after getting straight setted by Nadal on fast hard courts, he would have a legitimate shot to beat him on clay.

Absolutely, he schooled Nadal for most of the first set at the US Open before Nadal's BS comeback.

And have you ever seen how passionate and intense Nalbandian was in Davis Cup matches? He was almost like a different person.

Yeah, I wonder how far that passion would have gotten him with a barely functioning hip, on clay, in Spain, against a physical freak who's only lost 1, yes ONE, best out of 5 set clay court match in his entire career.

do people who entertain trollish posts can be consider trolls themselves?

You really should shut your trap. You don't even understand why your favorite player is successful, let alone the tour in general. In 2011 you ran from the boards like a coward because Djokovic proved so many of your proclamations false. In 2013, Nadal made you look like an idiot because you started off the year basically calling for Nadal to skip hard courts altogether - and Indian Wells is what spurred his excellent year more than anything else. If it were up to hunting you, he would have skipped the event altogether.

You even - back on TennisDigital - called Nadal an "idiot" for how he manages his schedule, when in reality the opposite is true. He and his team have been masterful at preparing and prioritizing over the years.

It's funny to see someone be a fan of a player and not even understand what makes that player successful. You called Nadal an idiot, when in reality you just need to look in the mirror to find the ultimate example of what you're referring to Nadal as.