Oh David… David…David Nalbandian lost to John Isner today 4-6, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(5), 10-8 at the 2012 Australian Open. The match was full of drama and controversy.  Here is a nice summery of what happened.

And here is David’s post-match interview:

Q.  It’s never nice to lose in very controversial circumstances, but clearly it was a pretty dispiriting end to the match for you.  

DAVID NALBANDIAN:  Yeah.

 Q.  What do you make of the umpire’s decision in that 8All point? 

DAVID NALBANDIAN:  I asked for HawkEye and he make an overrule.  Because the lineman call out.  He overrule it.  Was a lot of noises, so I asked what happened, because the lineman called out.

He told me he overruled it.  And I say, Okay, I see the mark.  I say challenge.  Not a big deal.  He don’t want to do it. Read more »

It is not a surprise that I am a big fan of David Nalbandian. Yesterday’s New York Times had a nice article about him, and his obsession and dedication to Davis Cup. You may read the article here. On Friday, Argentina’s Juan Monaco will play Rafael Nadal in the opening singles as Argentine tries to win their first title in four finals. Four-time champion Spain is going for a third victory in four years.

David needs luck! He has been very very unlucky in luck!  He is  injured again and withdraws from Australian Open.

I was expecting this news, but still it is sad to learn that my Nalby will be out for the rest of the season. You can get more information about his injury and upcoming surgery from his official site davidnalbandian.com. It is not a secret that I am a crazy David Nalbandian fan. And I have never had a chance to see him play live:-( But this year I thought would be THE Year. We were planning to go to Roland Garros to see him, and now I don’t have another favorite for who I feel I am ready to travel to Paris. Good Luck David with the surgery and the recovery. Tennis Info Blog will miss you!

By the way, does anybody know what happened to David Nalbandian’s fan site davidnalbandian.net?

Have you ever wondered what American Andre Agassi and Argentine David Nalbandian have in common?  Both famous tennis players are of Armenian origin.  Nalbandian began playing tennis at age five when his Armenian grandfather built a cement court in his backyard in Cardoba, Argentine. Agassi’s father is also Armenian who immigrated to the U.S. from Iran. Agassi’s middle name, Kirk, is after Armenian American tycoon Kirk Kirkorian, who hired Agassi’s father Mike to work in one of his casinos. Later they became good friends.

David Nalbandian plans to visit his ancestrial homeland Armenia in early October, where he will give a master class and play an exhibition match with Armenia’s top tennis player Harutyun Sofyan.

After a long break Argentine David Nalbandian is set to play in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.  He is seeded #7 and his first opponent is  Zeng Shaoxuan of China.  He is also scheduled to play doubles with Guillermo Canas. However, it is still somewhat unclear if David has managed to recover from his injuries.

It is very unhealthy to be David Nalbandian’s fan. He is absolutely unpredictable!!! When Nalby loses, I need at least one tennis-free day to recover, to digest his “I-don’t-know-why-I-am-playing-tennis” performance, and only then continue following the action. Nalbandian (the bookmakers’ fourth favorite) lost 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 in the third round of Australian Open to 22nd-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero. It was unwatchable.

Que paso David?

(AP Photo/Rick Stevens)

I haven’t been able to post much in recent days because I was having a lot of fun in New Orleans. When you are in Big Easy, your priorities shift. Fun, food and music take over tennis! I absolutely love Nola. There is so much spirit and love of life in that city. And the last several days were particularly fun there. In addition to usual tourists, the city was full of LSU and OSU football fans, and educators. The Allied Social Science Association was having its annual conference which brings together thousands of university professors and newly minted PhDs (job candidates) from all over the world. It was interesting to observe how the sports fans and academia were having fun together in the world-famous French Quarter.

Now I am back to my usual routine–which of course involves tennis. The first disappointment was when I read that my tennis muse (aka David Nalbandian) injured his back while practicing with Marat Safin. His participation at the Australian Open is in doubt. Now I officially think Nalby is jinxed (not that I believe in jinxing).

This is an aerospace-themed holiday greeting card from the former Soviet Union. It bears the New Year greeting in Russian (s novym godom). New Year was the main holiday (ideologically more acceptable) celebrated in the former Soviet Union (officially atheist). Christmas was banned after the 1917 revolution and not celebrated again until 1992. Also, in Russia, Christmas is celebrated according to the Julian calendar, on January 7 (Armenians celebrate on January 6), and is a much different type of celebration than New Years.

My wishes for 2008!

May we all:

1. Enjoy world peace (or at least continue to dream).

2. Continue to do good and help as many people as we can in our lives.

3. Benefit from intelligent decisions from our leaders, and in the case of the Americans in 2008, the voters.

TENNIS WISH: Nalbandian, please win a Grand Slam. PLEASE!

Thank you for reading my blog!