David Nalbandian, from
Argentina, is currently ranked as the No. 8 men's tennis player in the world. Born January 1, 1982, he has 5 singles titles to his name, and in early 2006 he rose to No. 3 in the world, on account of defeating world #1
Roger Federer the previous year at the
Shanghai Tennis Masters Cup final.
Nalbandian is of
Armenian descent; his last name means "one who makes horse shoes" in Armenian. He turned pro in 2000 and has earned a total of $7,171,094 in prize money.
He is known for his searing two-handed backhand down the line as well as his incredible foot speed. He is principally a base-liner with a very good
return of serve, but he can be an
aggressive net player when the
occasion calls for it. The main weakness in his
manner of play, as former great
John McEnroe has pointed out, is his sometimes very low first serve percentage. It may be fair to say that he does not have the emotional strength and calm under pressure as say, a
Nikolay Davydenko. He has been known to get a significant lead in a match before breaking down mentally and "giving the game away".