TENNIS in DEPTH.

David Nalbandian sealed a memorable 3-2 win for Argentina in the final rubber of the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group first round tie in Stockholm.

Nalbandian, playing in his first Davis Cup singles match since the Final in 2008, produced an assured performance to defeat Sweden’s Andreas Vinciguerra 75 63 46 64 in two hours, 35 minutes.

Nalbandian, who also teamed up Horacio Zeballos to win the doubles rubber on Saturday, only arrived in Stockholm on Thursday, after initially ruling himself out of the tie due to injury.

Earlier on Sunday, Robin Soderling levelled the score in Stockholm with a straight sets victory over Leonardo Mayer in the first of the reverse singles. The world No. 7 did just enough in each set to get past world No. 73 Mayer 75 76(5) 75 in just over two and a half hours.

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David Nalbandian is expected to play for Argentina in their Davis Cup first round match against Sweden this weekend, after having been ruled out by injury just over a week ago.

“ I decided to play for the sake of people who have always supported me,” said the Argentine, famed for his patriotism.

Nalbandian had hip surgery in May 2009 and had expected to make a return in Auckland at the start of the season, but strained abdominal muscles while warming up for his opening match and subsequently missed the Australian Open.

Despite his recent injury record, Nalbandian is determined to play a part with the Davis Cup team already missing their two highest-ranking players.

US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro has not played since the year’s first Grand Slam because of a wrist injury, and has been joined on the sidelines by world No.27 Juan Monaco.

But after Nalbandian practiced on Wednesday without any difficulty, he was added to the squad for this weekend’s tie.

“Nalbandian will be included in the team in place of Federico Del Bonis,” a statement fro the Argentine tennis federation said. 19-year-old Del Bonis had been called up last weekend following Monaco’s withdrawal.

He is expected to team up with Horacio Zeballos for Saturday’s doubles and may play in the reverse singles on Sunday.

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 David Nalbandian made a winning return to the circuit from hip surgery when he beat Italian Potito Starace 6-2, 7-6 in the first round of the Buenos Aires Open on Tuesday.

The 2002 Wimbledon finalist celebrated after his first competitive match in nine months as if he had won a final and said the victory was a weight off his shoulders and answered his own questions as to how he would cope.

“You don’t know how you’re going to react in particular situations like being 4-4 or having your service broken,” Nalbandian told a news conference.

“It’s more that uncertainty than playing well or badly (that concerned me),” he said.

Second seed Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain, fresh from winning the Brasil Open on Sunday, crushed Ricardo Mello of Brazil 6-1, 6-2 but local fans were more interested in Nalbandian’s return.

The Argentine said playing in front of his home crowd helped to counter the fact that clay was not his favourite.

His comeback was not helped by the weather, a torrential rainstorm interrupting play straight after he had taken the first set on Monday evening.

“Yesterday I hit my (service) returns better, today the ball was faster and the wind did not help,” he said. “But it was a good comeback. I hesitated very little, hardly at all.

“I’ll take things day by day. I’ll need four, five, six tournaments to (start) getting the rhythm of the circuit.”

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Argentina’s David Nalbandian withdrew from the Heineken Open on Monday because of an abdominal strain that might also keep him out of the Australian Open.

The Auckland tournament was to be Nalbandian’s first since May when he underwent hip surgery, but the former world No. 3 pulled out when he sustained a new injury during warmups.

Nalbandian was set to play former Heineken Open champion Philipp Kohlschreiber in the first round Tuesday. Tournament organizer Richard Palmer said a scan confirmed a slight abdominal strain and put Nalbandian’s participation in the Australian Open in doubt.

“These usually take 10 to 15 days to come right,” Palmer said.

Nalbandian will be replaced in the Auckland tournament by Inigo Cervantes-Huegin of Spain.

“I am very disappointed not to be able to make my comeback this week at the Heineken Open. I was very much looking forward into playing in Auckland once again,” Nalbandian said.

“I didn’t play much tennis for eight months so it is natural to suffer some small injuries. Although I am disappointed at the moment, I remain confident and positive about making a full-time comeback to the tour soon.”

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“King” David made a great comeback to the tennis courts. During his presentation at the Copa San Juan Minero, played at the indoors Aldo Cantoniesa Stadium in that province, he had moments where he played very well and crushed the Chilean Nicolás Massú 6-2 and 6-1. He had a great satisfaction: 5,000 people welcomed him applauding widely, he played well, and his serves were good and did not feel any discomfort.

“I felt really good, very happy. I hadn’t been on a court for a long time and I felt great from the beginning. Coming onto the court with an ovation, people applauding on their feet, it was great. I think it is really nice to feel that people like you, support you, cheer you, and are always there for you. I felt well while playing and it was the first match”, the man from Córdoba stated.

Everybody was happy with his great level: himself, who eased the tension of his comeback, his collaborators and family member who were with him in San Juan, the audience who could see a good version of the player and, above all, the tennis world that has now recovered one of its main figures. Now it is just a matter of getting better and better.

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Now I feel fine but there is one more step to get to high competition and if you miss a millisecond hesitating, things become complicated, you are slow and out of rhythm. Doctors say it’ll take me two or three months to familiarize again with competition, let’s hope it takes less than that”, David stated anxiously waiting to test himself on the courts. “The time it takes to be outstanding again depends on each person. What is to come is surrounded by uncertainties because we are training harder and trying not to feel pain. We are doing great, but we’ll see what happens, we try and then see. It will be similar once I start playing again, one week it will be fine and another week it won’t, till I adjust myself to competitions. This is very different to training”, he said. Now he feels no pain, but “everybody says that I may feel some pain during the first months, as if I had never had the operation. I wonder why I had it, but they assure me that then I will feel the change. Now I am training hard and I am not in pain”. It seems that everything is going well.

There are a few days to go before David plays again in front of an audience and a distinguished player. Even if it is an exhibition, the former top-10 player will test himself on the court in San Juan on December 12th and 13th. On his recovery, he said: “I am training harder and harder, with more intensity, and I am starting to feel pain in my muscles, the typical pre-season pain: adductors, ischium, legs. But it´s the muscles that hurt, not my hip, so it is fine”. He has begun to intensify his training: “This week we have been more demanding; we’ll have a pre-season for a month and a half. The first days of January we’ll be in Auckland”, he stated.

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Former world number three David Nalbandian will compete at the Heineken Open in Auckland in January as he steps up his comeback following hip surgery.

The 27-year-old Argentinian, currently ranked 20th in the world, is on the road to recovery after going under the knife in May and plans to play in Auckland in the week starting January 11 ahead of the Australian Open the following week.

“Nalbandian is a quality player who has something special in his game as witnessed by his grand slam record of having reached a final and several semi-finals,” said tournament director Richard Palmer.

“He’s the sort of player who has the ability to really challenge for the Heineken Open title and get back into the top 10.”

Nalbandian has won 10 career ATP titles and is one of only a handful of active players with a winning head-to-head record against both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

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• Nalbandian leads Argentine to victory over Sweden.
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• Nalbandian added to Agentine’s Davis Cup team.

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