David plays Marcos Daniel of Brazil in the first round today, on Court 11 and probably in the mid-afternoon. Marcos is currently ranked at #81 and has won a Challenger title this year.
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And David wins this match comfortably 6-1 6-2 6-4 in 99 mins. Nice start.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
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Vamos David!!!
I won't be home to watch the match. And I already fear the moment I'll turn on my computer to find out how it went... But still - fingers crossed!
And I've just read that Juan Carlos Ferrero has withdrawn and will be replaced by Denis (?) Golubev. So that should make things a little easier. Theoretically speaking, of course. (And absolutely no jinx intended.)
Here's David's post-match press conference. Once again delivered in style...
THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.
Q. You had a great fall last year. Some players, I'm wondering if you think they play better in the beginning of the year or end of the year?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: Who?
Q. Just players in general. Are they better at spacing out how they play over the entire year or do you think...
DAVID NALBANDIAN: No, it just depends. You never know. Sometimes you think you're great in the beginning, and you didn't get the best results in the year. They come in later.
Depends the surface, depends whether you like to play more. You never know.
Q. Some players, they win more titles in the first half and some in the second half. Do you think of certain players as being good starters and others as good finishers?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: No. Depends.
Q. You didn't feel that way last fall?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: No.
LOL - I have to laugh at David's dry wit or stubborn down-to-earthness. He really refuses to buy into any fancy analysis of tennis and tennis players.
LOL! That reporter was really begging the question, wasn't he? And David wouldn't bite on the obvious.
Yes, Juan Carlos Ferraro's withdrawal does seem to make things easier. David actually just defeated the highest seed (Marcos Daniel is #82) next to him in the first two rounds in his section...and extremely comfortably might I add. He will now play Andrey Golubev (ranked #151) in the second round. I'm an optimist... I'm glad he is playing the low ranked Russian instead of the low-ranked American. David hasn't fared too well against home talent lately (remember Jeremy Chardy, Mardy Fish). Flake would be the worst player to play in terms in home court advantage (i.e. the ridiculous J-BLOCK), but James looked real shaky today against Donald Young barely winning in 5 sets. I wonder if Darcis is ripe for an upset?
The bad news is that Monfils looked extremely confident in disposing of his stooge too and Soderling surprisingly lost very easily (he usually is a third rounder, so this was a surprise). Monfils will be the heavy favorite in him match against Korolev whose claim to fame is cousin Anna Kournikova. So it looks on paper like a "hot" Monfils against a quickly getting warmer "Nalby" (whose Olympic effort was definitely an improvement over Wimbledon). Again, I have a very good feeling about all this. Today's math confirmed he is refinding his form. I saw a bit of the match. His ball striking was VERY strong and clean today. His movement was considerably better than it was in May and June.
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