Nalbandian follows Vilas to set up South American quarter-final showdown

Nalbandian. It sounds like the kind of place that might have interested Lemuel Gulliver once he had tired of Lilliput and Laputa. It is, in fact, the name of another young man travelling to good purpose ­ David Nalbandian, who yesterday became the first Argentinian to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals since his celebrated compatriot Guillermo Vilas.

Following his 6-4, 7-6, 2-6, 7-6 victory over Australia's Wayne Arthurs, the 20-year-old from Cordoba will meet Nicolas Lapentti, of Ecuador, for the honour of providing South America's first semi-finalist since Alex Olmedo of Peru, who went on to beat Rod Laver in the 1959 final.

This wasn't supposed to happen. Nalbandian has never before played a senior tournament on grass. Still faintly dazed by an achievement that caused him to sink to his knees in celebration, he explained afterwards that he had been due to play at Nottingham last month, but had been prevented by injury. So ­ not bad for a first attempt, and it could get even better.

"When I came I thought if I win two or three matches it is a good result for me," said Nalbandian, whose name comes from his Armenian grandfather who emigrated to Argentina. "You never know how long you can go in the tournament. Each match I feel like it's the last one. But I am still here."

Vilas won French, Australian and US Open titles, but even he was not able to progress beyond the quarter-finals here, which he reached in 1976 and 1977.

"It is difficult for Argentinian players on grass courts," said Nalbandian, who is seeded 28. "Grass for Argentina is not so good. So to play well here is a good job."

In Arthurs he faced a man who had something in common with Elton John ­ Pinner, which is where the singer was born and the tennis player now resides.

But a fact that had greater resonance for the Argentinian as he took to the court was Arthurs' outstanding service record. Despite being unseeded, the 32-year-old from Adelaide came into this match unbeaten on his serve in 54 consecutive games, a run which began to emulate his all-time record of 111 unbeaten service games which took him to the fourth round of Wimbledon in 1999 before he was defeated by Andre Agassi.

It was a run which was abruptly terminated by the athletic Argentinian, who broke the Australian's serve to take the opening set 6-4, and then established a 2-0 lead after winning the second set tie-break.

If Crocodile Dundee had a lanky and lugubrious younger brother, that would be Arthurs. Although he lifted his game to take the third set, an achievement that earned a loud reception from the many Australians courtside ­ men in wigs, accompanied by the obligatory toy kangaroo ­ he was ultimately undone by a lack of mobility which his youthful opponent exploited with a succession of well-judged lobs and returns to his feet.

Defeat was a choker for the least heralded of the three Australians in the fourth round draw, who volunteered the opinion afterwards that his compatriot, Lleyton Hewitt, would be the man holding up the big silver thing on Sunday.

"This was probably the biggest opportunity to go further at Wimbledon than I ever have," said Arthurs. "It's just disappointing, it really is. I'm not getting any younger."

Nalbandian, meanwhile, has provided his own countrymen with a much-needed lift after the disappointment of seeing Argentina's football team make an unscheduled early departure from the World Cup.

"It was a very, very bad result for us in the World Cup," said Nalbandian, who followed all Argentina's matches on television with a particular interest in the fortunes of Ariel Ortega, who plays for the team he supports, River Plate. "It was very bad for the people and I am very happy to do well here for them."

He arrived here with unhappy memories of Wimbledon, having been defaulted from the semi-final of the 1999 junior competition against the eventual winner, Jurgen Melzer for arriving late.

"I had two matches on the same day, and when I arrived quarter of an hour before the second one started, they told me I was defaulted," he recalled. "They changed the time without telling me."

Wimbledon 2002 is already certain to prove happier for him in recollection. It will bring a sense of satisfaction, too, for the Brazilian who became the third South American into the quarter-final draw, Andre Sa, who overcame Feliciano Lopez of Spain 6-3, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 to earn a meeting with Tim Henman.

Sa, a 25-year-old from Belo Horizonte, had lost in the first round of five events leading up to the championships, but he was inspired by the achievement of his fellow countrymen in winning the World Cup on Sunday.

"I looked at Ronaldo's picture in today's paper," he said, "and I told myself 'I hope I have the same face as he does at the end of the day.'" Happily for Sa, a dark and handsome six-footer, that didn't actually happen. But he was smiling broadly as he reflected on a very good 24 hours.

"I watched the final from the flat where I am staying in Gloucester Road," he said. "We decided not to go to a bar because there was maybe too much euphoria around."

There could be more euphoria back home if Sa can continue to emulate the achievements of his fellow countryman, Gustavo Kuerten, the only other Brazilian to have got this far at Wimbledon.

"I don't think anybody will have slept last night," he said. "They were just happy about the football. But I hope they save some of their positive energy for my quarter-final."