Nalbandian wins battle of South America

It is a moot point whether David Nalbandian is the first South American semi-finalist in the Wimbledon men's singles. What is not in doubt is that the first debutant to reach the semi-finals since John McEnroe in 1977 came through a remarkable test of nerve yesterday to win a five-set quarter-final in three hours 44 minutes.

When Alex Olmedo won in 1959 he carried a Peruvian passport, but having played Davis Cup for the United States and now a US citizen, he is listed as American in Wimbledon's records. By that interpretation Nalbandian, the 20-year-old son of an Armenian immigrant to Argentina, made history yesterday when his 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 4-6, 6-4 victory over Nicolas Lapentti took him into the last four and a meeting scheduled for today against Greg Rusedski's Belgian conqueror Xavier Malisse.

His first Grand Slam semi-final is a triumph for himself, Argentina, and his former coach Gustavo Luza. Luza was in charge of Argentina's juniors at Wimbledon three years ago when Nalbandian defaulted for showing up late for his boys' singles semi-final.

The timing was marginal, but instead of fighting his player's corner, Luza said Nalbandian had to learn to be professional and be in the locker room well before his match was likely to be called, rather than playing pinball, which he was reportedly doing.

Nalbandian has heeded that lesson. Though he grew up near Cordoba where hard courts predominate, he won his first tournament this year on the clay of Estoril, and came to Wimbledon ranked 28th.

He is Argentina's best male performer at SW19, and his display against Lapentti suggested he need fear nothing Malisse has to offer. The dangers come from his own nerves, which just about passed muster yesterday, and the fact that today's semi-final will be the first match he has played on a show court.

From the moment Nalbandian reeled off seven straight games to make good a 2-4 deficit in the first set, he was never behind, but let three clear opportunities to seal victory slip. He led the third set 4-1 with a double break but allowed Lapentti to win six straight games. When the Argentinian broke to lead 3-2 in the fourth, he looked to have weathered his mild crisis, and was dominating the increasingly long and largely entertaining baseline rallies. But he was promptly broken back, and then lost his serve in the 10th game for the match to go into a fifth set.

Once again playing aggressive tennis, Nalbandian used his better weight of shot to open up another 4-1 lead in the decider, again with two breaks, but again he faltered. As the aggressive tactics gave way to pressure-laden caution, he served a very nervous game to concede serve for 4-2, and when Lapentti held for 4-3, Nalbandian was wobbling. One approach he failed to follow into the net and another nervous smash off the bounce must have told Lapentti he was in with a chance of a second five-set victory from two sets down.

But the weight of 23 sets in five matches was causing Lapentti to feel the strain too, Nalbandian came through that service game, and held again at 5-4, sealing his semi-final on his first match point by putting away a brave smash to end a marathon nerve-charged rally.

Nalbandian's success will send shockwaves through Russia's tennis authorities. Russia has picked a fast indoor court for September's Davis Cup semi-final in Moscow against Argentina, thinking that their visitors do not like fast surfaces. They must now reckon on facing a Wimbledon semi-finalist, if not a runner-up or champion.