Posted by Stephen Tignor, TENNIS.com
Tennis has had its share of drama in the first half of 2007, but perhaps the most surprising story of all has gone almost completely unnoticed, even by serious fans.
Can you guess what it is? No? OK, I'll inform you -- it's the collapse of David Nalbandian. Ranked as high as No. 3 last year, the 25-year-old Argentine is currently wallowing at No. 24 (below, somehow, Marat Safin, whose own long-running demise has been well documented). Nalbandian has reached just one quarterfinal in 12 events this year, and he began the U.S. Open Series with a first-round exit last week in Los Angeles. The problem has obviously registered; coachless for many months, he recently brought former Argentine pro Martin Jaite on board to help.
While he finished 2006 at No. 8, Nalbandian's crisis can be traced further back, to his semifinal losses in the first two Grand Slams of that year. After years of steady, unspectacular achievement, Nalbandian reached the semis in Melbourne and went up two sets to love against the then-unheralded Marcos Baghdatis. The Argentine was one set from his second major final and a serious step up in status. Instead, he crumbled, losing three straight sets, the final one after being up 4-2. Four months later, in Paris, Nalbandian found himself in a similar situation. He came out smoking in his French Open semifinal against Roger Federer and won the first set. This time it wasn't his mind that recoiled, but his body. Nalbandian retired in the third set with a mysterious abdominal problem.
Looking back, it seems Nalbandian had reached the limits of what he thought he could accomplish in the game. Comfortable as a solid, very talented Top Tenner, he couldn't make the leap to Grand Slam champion. For the rest of the year, Nalbandian saved his best for team play, playing spectacular tennis during Argentina's run to the Davis Cup final.
Individually, he didn't show the same hunger. Nalbandian has always carried a few extra pounds around, and he went as long as he could without a coach. His talent -- he has one of the smoothest two-handed backhands in history and is never, ever rushed or off-balance for any stroke -- was enough to keep him where he thought he belonged, just below the real contenders, the Federers and Nadals of the world.
It's just that in pro tennis, if you're not getting better, you're getting worse. Kids like Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Richard Gasquet and Andy Murray are as talented as Nalbandian, but hungrier. Their trajectory in the last year has been upward, while Nalbandian had gone as far as he was prepared to go -- all he could do was fall. Perhaps that explains the media silence about his decline.
As good as he is, he never struck us as a lifelong top-five guy. His drop isn't a story because no one is surprised by it. And you can't expect fans to believe in a guy who doesn't fully believe in himself.
