Nalbandian defeats Baghdatis for title
The championship match of the 2010 Legg Mason Tennis Classic was fit for 2006. That was when Argentine David Nalbandian and Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis were ranked in the top 10 and both reached the semifinals in two major championships.
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But several injuries later, both were out of the top 150 in the world, afterthoughts at ages when they should have been in their respective primes.
Sunday, when they met in the Legg Mason final, it was to determine who had progressed further in his comeback.
With a resounding 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) victory, the answer was Nalbandian, a former No. 3, who completed a dominant run this week at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center. Nalbandian toppled four seeded players, won 12 of 13 sets, and collected $262,000.
It’s been a long 19 months since the Argentine’s last title (Sydney). Hip surgery 15 months ago ruined his 2009 season. A lingering hamstring pull in April threatened to do the same in 2010.
“It was a year and a half, fighting with the surgery and recovery,” said Nalbandian, 28. “We are so happy to get this victory. It makes me feel very good again.”
In becoming the Legg Mason’s first wild card champion, Nalbandian continues a run of Argentine success following back-to-back victories in this event by Juan Martin del Potro.
On Sunday, Nalbandian showed the crisp groundstrokes of his prime. Dominating the opening game, he needed only four points to break Baghdatis and continue a trend.
In winning 30 of 54 return games (55.5 percent), Nalbandian was far more successful in service return than any player in the field. No. 2 was Giles Simon (41.4 percent).
“I didn’t get any free points,” said Baghdatis, 25.
The second set began the same way as Nalbandian broke two of Baghdatis’ first three service games. But Baghdatis fought hard to break twice, and force a tiebreaker. Nalbandian rolled from the start, breaking his opponent’s first three serves to take a 5-0 lead. On the verge of elimination, Baghdatis retaliated, winning four of the next five points. But serving at 6-4, Nalbandian put Baghdatis on the run with a big serve, then followed with a bullet forehand to the opposite corner to clinch the 11th title of his career.
“If he plays like that, he can beat a lot of guys in the top 10,” Baghdatis said of Nalbandian, who entered the match ranked No. 117.
