The Enigma That Is David Nalbandian

When David Nalbandian made the final of Wimbledon, as a 20 years old, on his grass court debut in 2002, the tennis world sat up and took note.

Nalabandian fell short in the final, losing in straight sets to the then World No. 1, Australia's Lleyton Hewitt, but the young Argentine had done enough to make a name for himself in the space of a fortnight.

Seven years, on from that magical run to the finals at the All England Club, Nalbandian has not reached the finals of another Grand Slam, yet he has reached the Semi Final stage of every Grand Slam tournament, and is arguably one of the most accomplished all court players on the tour.

At the US Open in 2003 Nalbandian reached the semi finals where he would face the form player of the tour, Andy Roddick, Nalbandian had suffered a comprehensive defeat to Roddick in the finals of the Montreal Masters, just a few weeks prior to the Open, and the American was the favourite to repeat the dose against Nalbandian in the last Grand Slam of the year.

Nalabandian appeared to throw the form book out of the window, as he began the match full of purpose, he was striking the ball so sweetly and moving his American opponent all around the court with some very intelligent play.

Nalbandian's brilliant play saw him earn a two sets to love, lead and he seemed destined to reach his second Grand Slam final, and when he had a match point to seal the match in straight sets, the match appeared to be as good as over.

However little by little, Roddick with the help of the crowd fought his way back in the match, point by point, game by game and in the end the American pulled off a remarkable come back victory, Roddick would go on to win the title, to date his only Grand Slam triumph.

That lose would have undoubtedly hurt Nalbandian, and although he did make the Semis of the French Open, he didn't really look like a genuine contender for a major after that loss to Roddick, and he was slowly seeing himself fall into the category of a 'one hit wonder'.

In 2005 Nalbandian produced some consistent results and as a result he qualified for the year end Masters Cup, only the best 8 players each year qualify for the prestigious event.

Nalbandian then played some sublime tennis to reach the finals where he to play against World No. 1 Roger Federer, all the build up to the final was about Federer, and how he was poised to cap off yet another great season with a Masters Cup triumph, indeed this seemed likely when Federer took a two sets to love lead against Nalbandian in the final.

However against the odds, Nalbandian managed to fight back and sensationally won the match from two sets to love down, and in the process earn himself his first Masters Cup title.

Great a triumph as the Masters Cup was for Nalbandian, it proved to be yet another false dawn, in terms of the Argentine breaking through and winning more major titles.

Following the Masters Cup Nalbandian had a relatively quiet next two seasons, that was until the end of 2007, when the talented Argentine, won his first Masters Series title in Madrid, beating the world No. 3 Novak Djokovic and the world No. 2 Rafael Nadal on his way to the final, before coming back from losing the first set 6-1 to stun World No. 1 Roger Federer in the final, the victory was Nalbandian's first Masters series triumph.

Nalbandian didn't have to wait long for his next Masters series title the following week he won the title in Paris beating Federer in straight sets in the 3rd round before crushing Nadal 6-4 6-0 in the final, Nalbandian had beaten the worlds best two players in the world two weeks running, he was so it appeared the form player in world tennis, surely he would be a contender at all the majors in 2008 one would have assumed.

It did not materialise this way for Nalbandian as he did not come close to reproducingthe form he showed in those two tournaments in 2008, apart from in the Paris Masters where he lost his title in the Final to Jo Wilfred Tsonga.

Nalbandian has the all round game the shot making ability and the natural talent to be one of the finest players of his era, and he has had so many moments in his career when you feel he his about to make a gigantic breakthrough but each time is is something of a mirage, when it comes to Nalbandian the key is to expect the unexpected.