David Nalbandian survived Mikhail Youzhny in a brutal three-setter at the Monte-Carlo Masters. Nalbandian advances to the third round to face Tommy Robredo.
In the best match of the tournament to date, David Nalbandian outlasted Mikhail Youzhny 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5) on Wednesday at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters. Nalbandian booked a third-round meeting with Tommy Robredo after two hours and 55 minutes of spirited play.
Youzhny lived dangerously throughout the opening set, fighting off a break point in the first game of the match and saving two more in his second service game. Nalbandian earned a whopping five more break chances at 4-4, but Youzhny survived all of them, including an amazing backhand pass at 0-40.
The 13th-ranked Russian finally held serve in the marathon game and that earned him all of the momentum. Youzhny promptly struck for the first break of the day, dominating the Nalbandian serve at 5-4 for a one-set advantage.
With each game, Youzhny appeared to be on the way to a convincing win early in set two. Monte-Carlo's No. 7 seed held easily for 1-0 and then seized a second consecutive break with a blistering backhand return. Nalbandian, however, refused to go away without a fight. Out of almost nowhere, the 147th-ranked Argentine finally struck for his first break and got back on serve when his opponent sprayed a backhand well wide.
Youzhny had a chance to regain the upper hand at 2-1, but he just barely missed a forehand wide. Nalbandian held two points later and used the momentum to clinch a second consecutive break and a surprising 3-2 lead. Youzhny seemed to start mentally preparing for a final frame of play at that point and he double-faulted the second set away at 3-5.
Break points were held in each of the first three games in the decider, but neither man could convert. A dismal service game from Youzhny at 2-3 finally gave Nalbandian some slight breathing room, and the 28-year-old's first real lead of the evening. In keeping with the back-and-forth nature of the match, however, Nalbandian promptly played a dreadful service game of his own and got broken at love.
Having regained the momentum, Youzhny did well to hold serve at 4-5 before coming up with a spectacular return game. He earned a break point thanks to a crushing backhand at the end of a grueling rally at 30-30 and converted it by forcing Nalbandian into a forehand error. Once again, though, the tide turned and Youzhny failed to serve out the match.
At long last, a tiebreaker was necessary to decide the outcome once and for all. Nalbandian eventually earned two match points by forcing his opponent into a forehand error at 5-4. Youzhny saved the first on serve, but Nalbandian capitalized on his next chance by putting away a forehand after Youzhny's previous shot floated off the net cord.
Nalbandian scored his first victory over Youzhny in three tries. The Argentine is 4-2 lifetime against Robredo, but 2-2 against the Spaniard on clay, tennistalk.com reported.
