Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:20
The world number 12 has been struggling with flu in recent days and on Tuesday suffered a surprise first-round defeat to Daniel Koellerer at the Abierto Mexicano TELCEL tournament in Acapulco. Nalbandian started well against Koellerer but faded badly to lose 1-6 6-3 6-4 against a player ranked 116th in the world.
He said: “If I am unable to play at my level for two sets in a game like that, then playing the Davis Cup (against Holland next week) is pointless where I may have to play four or five in a match. There is one week to go and I hope I can be fine.”
He added: “In any other city, I would have retired because I really felt bad, but the people here have treated me so well that I tried to do my best.”
Nalbandian has been named in Argentina’s Davis Cup squad along with Juan Ignacio Chela, Juan Monaco and Lucas Arnold.
