 | Born: 1/1/82 Nationality: Argentine Seeded: 8 World ranking: 8 French Open best:
3rd round (2001) Recent record:
2003: 2nd round
2002: 3rd round
2001: N/A |
Nalbandian spent much of last year in the world's top 10 although he surprisingly failed to win a title. The Argentine burst onto the scene by reaching the 2002 Wimbledon final and has confounded the sceptics by becoming one of the leading players on the tour.
He relishes hard-court tennis and his solid form in North America last summer was capped with a semi-final appearance at the US Open.
But there he let slip a match-point and a two-set lead against eventual champion Andy Roddick.
He also reached the quarter-finals at the Australian Open and the last 16 at Wimbledon, showing that he knows how to do well at the big events.
Nalbandian is a heavy hitter from the baseline but, unlike most of his compatriots, does not count clay as his favourite surface, with the French Open his poorest Grand Slam result of last year.
But he has been in encouraging form coming into this year's event, reaching the quarter-finals at the Monte Carlo Masters and the final in Rome.
MMIX
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