Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic (each one accommodates it to their liking) are the three best players in the history of tennis. By titles, legacy, records and absolute dominance, they marked and continue to mark an era. So much so that they have been at the top of the ranking for more than 15 years (only Andy Murray unseated them at some point) and each of them had the pleasure of lifting 20 Grand Slams trophies in their career. And beyond the time that passed since the three shared the circuit, there was only one tennis player who was able to defeat them in the same tournament. At 14 years of October 21, 2007, we remember in Break Point the perfect week of David nalbandian at the Masters 1000 in Madrid, where they beat this magical trio on consecutive days.
Argentina is a machine for exporting tennis players. Despite recurring economic crises and being geographically far from the main tournament organizers in the world, he always managed to have outstanding players on the circuit. However and up to the title of Juan Martin del Potro At the Indian Wells Masters 1000 in 2018, you had to go back to 2007 to find the last Argentine to win such a contest. And although little more than a decade separate both milestones, it would have been impossible to forget the feat carried out by the Cordoba in Madrid and, later, in Paris.
TWO COMPLICATED GAMES IN THE FIRST ROUNDS
Everyone remembers the feat of victories in a row against the Big3. However, few remember the martyrdom that meant King David to shake off his first two encounters. In fact, against Arnaud Clément and against Tomas Berdych he won in three sleeves. He even defeated the Croatian in the tiebreak of the third. Undoubtedly, two battles that marked a break in that week. “I had not been playing my best tennis in the season,” confessed the future champion later. The ranking placed him in 26th place and he had not been able to win a championship that year. But fate had something better in store for him.
AN UNFORGETTABLE FOLLOW-UP
Del Potro was his victim in the round of 16: he threw all the experience on the track and only gave up six games to a Tandilense who was just making his first steps on the circuit.
The table showed that to dream of the title you had to overcome almost unthinkable obstacles. Despite that, he had no problem dropping consecutively to the top three in the rankings. In the quarterfinals he overwhelmed a Nadal without answers 6-2 and 6-1. Then, it would be Djokovic’s turn (6-4 and 7-6) in what was the only success of his career against the Serbian and the icing on the cake was placed against Federer. Having lost the first set was not an impediment to reverse the score and place the winner’s crown. Since then, no one has been able to match the feat of Nalbandian, an enormous talent who could not finish reaping all that was possible to sow with his tennis.
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