More Articles, more Photos...

(Photos: Fernando Corbani for La Nacion; click to enlarge)

While David was in Buenos Aires to meet Dr. Ruiz-Cotorro, he was not only interviewed for Clarin, but also for La Nacion. By now, they have published two interviews/articles about David, accompanied by these photos.



The first article (by Ariel Ruya) is called "It doesn't matter if we get along, as long as we win" and not surprisingly perhaps, in it David talks about the Davis Cup. Amongst other things...

The Vilas Racquet Club is a small oasis in the middle of the turmoil of the big city. Sun, tennis, freedom. It is also the ideal refuge to have some privacy for a chat. There waits, smiling, sitting under the open sky, with his hair cut short, David Nalbandian, 27, the most talented Argentine tennis player of the last ten years. Sparkling water, a salad with vegetables and an espresso with milk are savoured during nearly one hour of relaxed words, caustic phrases, scathing verbs. Life goes on in the voice of the man who, while recovering from an uncomfortable hip operation (which took place on May 13), uncovers his strength of spirit to La Nacion. "I don't regret anything," he retorts more than once. About his career, about his life and his relationship with the Davis Cup team.

"I don't get along well or badly with anybody," he claims, later on. The artist of the tennis courts, the controversial figure, visiting Buenos Aires for medical reasons [meeting Ruiz-Cotorro], rises to speak while waiting to recover his tennis genius. "Before having surgery, I knew that it could go wrong, but I never hesitated: I will return. I was in a situation where I couldn't go on, the operation was the only way. But I don't think negatively, I have great faith. Those were two years with a lot of pain, with tremendous limitations for playing. I won important tournaments on one leg, as they say. I could not walk and I had trouble, driving," says El Rey [King] David, a suitable nickname in his opinion. "I will fight to be among the top five again. My idea, if I'm well, is to play until age 30. Tennis players retire more often because of the mental stress than for physical reasons. Look at the cases of Gaby [Sabatini] and Coria. It's not going to happen to me," he retorts. And invites us to have a closer look at the tracks on this path.

Q: Are you aware of what people say about you?

David: I have strengths and weaknesses, I know that. They ask me about the things I enjoy most, that are good for me. They don't know that I only do those things when I have time off and that it's enough for me. And if I do, it's because I think it's okay. It annoys me if they tell me what to do, this my way of life.

Q: It's because many think that you could've been better than you have been, that you could've reached higher.

David: I could've done this, I could've done that, the glass is always half empty. There's only one No.1 in the world and one No.2. No Argentine player was No.1, so why do they point at me? In our country, nobody has achieved that. Out of nine years as a professional player, seven years inside the Top Ten. Tennis is very complicated, it's not just hotels and beaches. I bet that if you leave your family for two months you'll end up being depressed. Crying.

Q: Maybe, David, many thought that you could have been a No.1.

David: Look, our life is a travel bag. So I need to ride horses, swim with sharks, do bungee jumping. If I don't, the circuit wears me out. And I don't regret it. It didn't do me any bad, all those years I've been at the highest level.

The words fly as freely as the open sky. They are not meant to cause controversy, they are spoken with the kind of relaxation that comes from security. The coffee is finished, Nalbandian relaxes. He agrees to play this game [of words] without annoyance, but with determination. "We want you to come back, David, we miss you," a pretty lady says. The man from Cordoba smiles. Ready to face a question anybody would feel uncomfortable about. "My weight? Look, if I didn't care about my body, I wouldn't have been among the best for so long," says the man, who suffered the loss of the Davis Cup tie in the Czech Republic from a distance. That's where his thoughts travel now: towards glory misunderstood. Towards certain dangerous relationships. "I'm sure we will win the Davis Cup," he marks his territory.

Q: But it never came as close as it did against Spain.

David: Last year we missed out on an excellent opportunity. I get distressed whenever I think about it. But there are no secrets to winning it.

Q: But you still think we can really win it?

David: Yes, sure. We used to have a hard time winning, being the away team, and in recent years we've changed that. Two finals, one semifinal, and don't forget that before that, we used to struggle in the American Group. What happens is that Argentineans are very much focused on success. We are what we are.

Q: Does it bother you, the way they talk about the way you get along with the team?

David: I have differences with everybody, it's normal. We all have our differences with others, you, me, him. And often I haven them with people who are close to me. When it comes to representing the country, there are no differences about anything. It doesn't matter if [the atmosphere on] the team is good or bad, what's important is that Argentina wins.

Q: But the rumours about how you get along with your teammates?

David: I know how things are. It doesn't matter if we get along, as long as we win. Apart from that, I was a part of what have been the best Davis Cup years. I cried and suffered a lot to win it.

Q: Are you going to be there for the next [Davis Cup] call at the end of February?

David: I hope so. Because of my injury, the first half of 2010 shouldn't be too strenuous for me. If they call me, I'll be there because they need me.

Q: If you could choose a tournament, which one would you prefer? A Grand Slam or Davis Cup?

David: I prefer the Davis Cup. The pressure, the court. It's special. It's my priority.

Time flies. David must also fly, in a few hours he will be back in Unquillo, his place in the world. "I'm a Davis Cup player," he warns. And bids farewell, offering his hand with a smile. Relaxed, controversial, happy. The way he is.

The second article focuses on David's current life, back home in Unquillo. It's called "The Privacy of the Days at his Village"...

He should find a publisher, a good writer and set to work. The book should be called "How to enjoy life." David Nalbandian would, of course, be the author of the idea behind it. Not being able to show his class on court, not being able to practice his serve, he still lives his life to the full.

There are days, these days, that are extremely demanding: double-shifts of intensive training to get the unruly body back on track after hip surgery. But whenever it's possible, each time he finds his space, in Unquillo, his home, his country, he discovers that magical pleasure of living. Family, friends, barbecues. "I just miss football. I can't play!" he exclaims.

He has a schedule of events. Monday night, he's there with his friends, applauding and shouting from the sideline at their tricks and games on the football pitch. Later, they all eat together. Thursday, at noon this time but again with his friends, barbecue at his place; hours later, it's playing cards.

Sometimes, their coffee chats include a couple of rounds at the PlayStation. "It's always football, never tennis. I play with [FC] Barcelona, because if I choose River [Plate] I have to do a lot of changes. We haven't done very well, lately," is his analysis from the perspective of a fan.

His 13 years spent among tennis players make him deserve this rest. "A typical village life. Even with the inevitable siesta," he suggests. Even more so today, as he savours long hours at his home with his family, watching the vortex of the ATP Tour on TV, in this time of recovery. Time also to remember. Looking back on how he left school in the third year of secundaria [9th grade of middle school/junior high], driven by an excessive passion for sports. Football, basketball, volleyball, karate, horseback riding, motocross and a certain other game, which escapes the author at this moment. Times of pure adrenaline. "They asked me at home, what are you going to do? Make up your mind! And I chose tennis. I don't think I made a mistake?" He erupts in laughter, nostalgic about those years when he was still a young boy. When he dreamed of making a living by playing tennis.

Q: And if you could go back, would you change anything about your life?

David: No, no. I don't regret anything. Just look what a great sacrifice it was, all that I gave up for that profession. But I'd choose to be a tennis player again.

He no longer has trouble walking, but from time to time an acute pain still affects him. He believes that in November, at best, he will be practicing his forehand and backhand again. And then, he'll pack up his bags and racquets. To take planes, relax at luxury hotels, miss his home and those things that only the best tennis players experience. "Back to the arena," he says. And that's where he'll go.