David Nalabandian is the holder of numerous sporting records, most of which have come on the tennis courts of the world where he has shown since he began as a junior player that he has the skill to be nicknamed the ‘King’ of Argentine tennis. He was born on New Year’s Day in 1982, a date which has much significance within his Armenian heritage, and may have helped shape his destiny as a tennis professional.

David is a naturally talented player, there are no weaknesses to his game, no areas for his opposition to exploit, and he has shown that when he wants to he can beat the best players in the world. He is one of the only current players to have beaten both Federer and Rafael Nadal since they became the numbers 1 & 2 in the world, he is also the only player to have beaten the top 3 players in a single tournament. He has been ranked as high as #3, and is now at #8, just above fellow Argentinian del Potro. If motivation is David’s reason for not winning more consistently in the past, then the upcoming Davis Cup final with Spain in November will surely be the cure. He will lead his country against the stronger Spanish team in front of his home town fans in Buenos Aires. Much discussion has been heard about the AAT(association of Argentine tennis) decision to stage the matches at Mar del Plata instead of Cordoba, a venue that David insists would have given the home team a distinct advantage because of its altitude, but even though he has not received a satisfactory explanation regarding the decision, he has disputed any suggestion that he will not play. “We are in the finals, and there is no suggestion that I will not be there to win for my country, no matter where the matches are played.”

A win for Argentine would be their first, and for David it means more than any other event he has played. If he is asked to play both singles and doubles for his country, he has said that he is ready. A friendly rivalry has grown between David and the much younger Juan Martin del Potro, who will be the other singles player in the Davis Cup. And at the moment they are ranked as the number 8 and 9 players. Del Potro beat Nalbandian in the Madrid Masters, but David came back to give the younger upstart a thrashing in Paris 6-4, 6-0, he also beat him the week before in the Basel ATP Australian open tournament .

As with most athletes who shine in one sport, David is an accomplished golfer, soccer player and swimmer, he also drives a Rally car for his own Tango Rally Team. He was also seen bungee jumping while playing in a tennis tournament in Austria. If he leads his country to victory over Spain his title of ‘King’ might become more than just a nickname.

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