Nalbo races to join Argentina’s DC squad in Sweden

 

Originally published on: 05/03/10 15:19

David Nalbandian is expected to play for Argentina in their Davis Cup first round match against Sweden this weekend, after having been ruled out by injury just over a week ago.

The former Wimbledon finalist withdrew from the quarter-finals of the Copa Telemex tournament in Buenos Aires with a right leg injury on February 18. It was his first competitive outing since returning from hip surgery in 2009.

Nalbandian had injured himself in the previous round of the clay-court event before pulling out, raising doubts about his place in the season’s first Davis Cup outing.

“But I decided to play for the sake of people who have always supported me,” said the Argentine, famed for his patriotism. “I took a risk but it went well.”

Nalbandian had hip surgery in May 2009 and had expected to make a return in Auckland at the start of the season, but strained abdominal muscles while warming up for his opening match and subsequently missed the Australian Open.

Despite his recent injury record, Nalbandian is determined to play a part with the Davis Cup team already missing their two highest-ranking players.

US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro has not played since the year’s first Grand Slam because of a wrist injury, and has been joined on the sidelines by world No.27 Juan Monaco.

But after Nalbandian practiced on Wednesday without any difficulty, he was added to the squad for this weekend’s tie.

“Nalbandian will be included in the team in place of Federico Del Bonis,” a statement fro the Argentine tennis federation said. 19-year-old Del Bonis had been called up last weekend following Monaco’s withdrawal.

He is expected to team up with Horacio Zeballos for Saturday’s doubles and may play in the reverse singles on Sunday.

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