13/04/2008
Nalbandian Makes History in the Davis
King David played till being breathless in order to beat Robin Soderling 6-4, 1-6, 4-6, 6-4 and 9-7 in four hours and nine minutes of real thrill in Parque Roca Stadium (Buenos Aires). His victory gave Argentina the crucial 3-1 lead over Sweden and made the Argentine team, directed by “Luli” Mancini, classify for the semi-finals in this centenarian competition. Nalbandian was again the leader of a team that had to work harder than expected to beat the Swedish rivals. “There was a little bit of everything. The match was so long that there were moments of happiness, anger, annoyance, satisfaction, elation. Luckily, I could turn the match around at the right time. I did my best and ran to nearly die”, the man from Córdoba stated; he was the author of the Argentine victory. In September the Argentine team will play against Russia, who beat 3-2 the Czech Republic. The good news is that by defeating Russia, they will play against the winner of the Spain-United States series. With the best closure possible, David established a new record of straight victories in the country in the Davis Cup: 15.