Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic have dominated men’s tennis for over two decades. The ‘Big Three’ dominance had left other tennis players with few chances to impress. One of the players who did manage to go past the ‘Big Three’ to win a title was David Nalbandian. The Argentine holds a rare record of beating Nadal, Federer and Djokovic in the same tournament to win the title.
David Nalbandian, the Argentine star, turned pro in 2000 and reached a career high ranking of No.3 in 2006. Nalbandian had won $11,123,125 in prize money throughout his career before retiring in 2013. The Argentine won 11 titles in his career and the most memorable one came at the Madrid Masters in 2007.
During the tournament in Madrid, Nalbandian defeated the No. 2 player in the world at the time, Rafael Nadal, in the quarterfinals. The Spanish opponent was astonishingly beaten rather easily by the Argentine, 6-1, 6-2. In the semifinals, David defeated the then World No.3 also in straight sets, Djokovic, 6-4, 7-6 (4) to reach the finals against Roger Federer. After his defeat, Novak Djokovic in the post-match conference, admitted that Nalbandian deserved to reach the final after his brilliant display throughout the tournament.
“He deserves to be in the final, that’s for sure. He won against Rafa and a lot of good players this week, so obviously he had a lot of confidence, and you could see that.”
In the final against Roger Federer, Nalbandian lost the first set 1-6 before completing a famous comeback win. The Argentine defeat the Swiss superstar 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 to claim a famous win at the Madrid Masters. After the match, Nalbandian admitted that he was focused on the final and added that he was delighted to beat the three top players in the world within a week.
“I was very focused, knowing I would have to play incredibly to win, and everything went right for me. It was a big boost for me to beat so many good players here this week.”
David Nalbandian involved in a controversy with his ex-girlfriend
According to recent reports by the UK’s Mirror, Nalbandian set up a secret camera in his ex-girlfriend’s apartment in Palermo, Italy so he could keep an eye on her after the pair parted ways. When the girlfriend’s brother went to the apartment, he saw the camera hidden behind an air shaft. Nalbandian’s girlfriend Torrado expressed her shock about the incident.
“The horror was indescribable: He not only watched me, but could also see me naked!”
Torrado has registered a complaint to the police on charges of stalking and sexual harassment. Earlier, insufficient evidence did not compel the police to take the case ahead. But the case does not seem to be closed yet as Torrado and her lawyers have shown more audio and message evidences against Nalbandian as the Argentine admitted to filming her.
