David Nalbandian beat Roger Federer 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 to win his first title in nearly 18 months with victory on Sunday at the Madrid Masters.
The Argentine who is ranked 25th in the world after going it alone a year before taking on Hernan Gumy as his coach over the summer, becomes only the third man in 14 years to beat the world numbers one, two and three at the same event.
Boris Becker was the first in Stockholm, 1994, while Serb Novak Djokivic, Nalbandian's Madrid semi-final victim, did it in August.
PHOTO: EPA
Nalbandian achieved his piece of history with Madrid wins over Federer, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic.
"I'm extremely contented to beat the world No. 1," said an overjoyed Nalbandian, who climbed into the stands to greet his box in victory and later on sprayed champagne during the trophy ceremony.
"Roger and I have a long history and I think that influenced the match," he said.
Nightmare
After dominating in their early days Nalbandian rose up again in 1 hour 48 minutes to prove that he can be the the Swiss player's worst nightmare.
The South American won their first five ATP encounters before Federer swept eight of their most recent nine.
The one the Swiss lost: the 2005 Masters Cup final in Shanghai.
"He served well, I was quite surprised with how well he served," said Federer, whose last loss indoors came against the Argentine in Shanghai.
"He came back strong and played well in the end," Federer said.
"He was a better player all in all. I was struggling after the first set to play aggressive for some reason. He played tough and didn't miss any more," he said.
"I couldn't play way I wanted to. It was a pity, he played a great tournament," Federer said.
Nalbandian last won a title in May last year, on clay in Estoril, Portugal.
He lost the Madrid final in 2004 to Marat Safin.
Federer had been bidding for his 15th career Masters Cup shield.
Even an unusual second-set interruption caused by the rogue leak of a watering system hose used for courtside flowers could not derail Nalbandian's concentration.
Federer and his opponent were forced to stop in the fourth game for five minutes, with the Swiss ace 30-0 up, while the problem was fixed.
winning streak ends
Federer saw the end of a 17-match winning streak dating to the final of Montreal in August when he lost to Djokovic.
Federer swept up the first set in only 29 minutes but then began to fade in the face of the Nalbandian attack.
"It was an extremely hard set," said Nalbandian of the opener. "But I tightened the teeth and I began to play more strongly."
"Things came out fine. Today I played incredible, and of course that helps," he said.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set