The beautiful country of Argentina, where the tango is elegant and charming, where the passion for football is intoxicating, and the sports stars there, are even more distinctive. Maradona, Caniggia, Son of the Wind, Messi, Sabatini, Del Potro and, of course, the protagonist of this article, Nalbandian.
Was Born on New Year's Day in 1982 a harbinger of a destined life? The answer is definitely.
Like many tennis players, As a teenager, Naban was involved in a variety of sports, swimming, cycling, basketball, including football, and in the end, tennis won his heart.
Naban reached the highest level in the world rankings, reaching the world's 3rd place, 2003-2007, ranking in the top 10 of the world for five consecutive years. In the era of Federer, Roddick, Hewitt, and the rise of Nadal, this is a very remarkable achievement. But unlike the labor model Davidenko, such results are achieved in irregular training, perhaps less than 2 hours a day.
Yes, Naban was like that, one of the most disappointing geniuses in tennis history. His magnificence is not inferior to Federer's, and his bravery is comparable to Nadal's, always giving people a lot of hope, but also accompanied by more regrets. It's like you haven't given it all up, you haven't reached your full potential, you've retired, and all you have left is a sigh.
This is the best Nalbandian
In 2002, at the age of 20, Nalbandian came to Wimbledon for the first time. In the high-profile two-week tournament, he made it all the way to the final, becoming the first Argentine in history to reach a Wimbledon final and the first South American to reach a Wimbledon final since 1959.
Maybe that's fate, and fairy tales pale out in real life. Naban's opponent in Sunday's final was then world number one Hewitt, who lost the game 1-6, 3-6, 2-6 in less than two hours to finish runners-up. It was also his best record in a Grand Slam tournament of his career.
Fame in a war, debut is the peak, but also the peak of life, who would have expected it?
In November 2005, the Shanghai Masters Cup, now the ATP year-end finals, Naban played as a substitute, unexpectedly broke into the final, after five sets of nearly 5 hours of hard fighting, staged a super reversal, defeated the world's number one, the year's day in the sky Federer to win the championship. The defeat was only Federer's fourth defeat that season.
In 2007, at the age of 25, Nalbandian had his best year.
He did two different tournaments, the Madrid Masters and the Paris Masters, and double-killed Federer and Nadal, who were the world number one and two at the time, such a feat, who else has done it?
This is the most "bad" Nalbandian
Naban, who retired early, never had a chance to erase those bad memories of 2012. He was fined more than $20,000 for bad behavior on and off the field.
At the Australian Open at the beginning of the year, the second round against Isner was subject to a controversial penalty that led to a loss of sanity after five sets, and after the game, he threw water on event officials and was fined $8,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct.
A few months later, at the Wimbledon warm-up tournament Aegon Championship, in the final with Cilic, Naban, out of anger, kicked the advertising sign next to the referee's seat, and the sign fell and hit the leg of the referee, causing bleeding.
Subsequently, he was disqualified from the final by the ATP and fined more than $12,000, and police were also involved in the investigation.
In post-match interviews in front of many spectators, Naban showed typical Na-style rebellion, spending more time complaining about ATP than apologizing.
In 2013, the 31-year-old Nalbandian chose to retire due to a series of injuries. But just before the Brazil leg, he reached the final and eventually lost to Nadal and missed the title.
In this way, there was no farewell, no ceremony, leaving tennis, concise, decisive, never looking back. Like the typical image in Argentine literature, even if he falls down the hill, he must let others see his flying hair.
Goodbye Nalbandian, he is already a racing driver, galloping in another expanse of the field, chasing another dream.
(Source: House of Tennis Author: Lynn)