Nalbandian returns to scene of the climb

Can last year's surprise package strike again? Guillermo Vilas thinks he can. Ronald Atkin on the wild-eyed wonder of Argentina

Many people were surprised when David Nalbandian reached the Wimbledon final last year. Quite a few were even gobsmacked. But not Guillermo Vilas, the man who put oomph into Argentina's tennis. Vilas, winner of four Grand Slams in the late Seventies (two on Australian grass), had a vivid first encounter with Nalbandian which impressed on his memory the unusual name of this grandson of Armenian immigrants.

It happened 10 years ago, at a tennis school for the country's most promising children which Vilas had established at the club which bears his name in Buenos Aires. The 11-year-old Nalbandian turned up for a trial, having travelled hundreds of miles from his home in the small mountain town of Unquillo in the province of Cordoba.

"I asked him, 'Why should I take you?' and he said, 'Because I am good'," Vilas recalled. "So I gave him a trial. It was a Sunday and all the clay courts were busy, so I put him on a hard court and he was really terrible. I said to one of my assistants, 'Why did this kid come from so far away to try out?'

"Then, while he was doing a side-to-side drill, Nalban-dian tripped and fell heavily. Even though he was bleeding, he got up, picked up his racket, got to the next ball and kept the drill going. I stopped the drill and told him, 'You're in'."

Vilas explained: "When you pick a player for the cream of the cream, they need something special. The main thing you can have in a tennis player is the will. He was an animal. He had never played on a fast surface, but he was trying like crazy, wild eyes and bleeding. I thought to myself, I can work with that attitude.

"That is exactly what you need on grass, to be stubborn. Keep going if you are a break down, serve and volley. Float the ball, go fast, take the net. It is not only about power on grass. The powerful ones are easy to play, you need this mixture. It is like climbing a mountain, you have to know a little bit, not too slow, not too fast."

In the 12 months since losing to Lleyton Hewitt on Centre Court, Nalbandian has been scaling the rankings mountain. He won the Basle indoor title last autumn, leapt from 70 to 12 in 2002, and this season has burst into the top 10, one of the "Argie Army", which has eight players in the top 45, more than any other country.

Since celebrating his 21st birthday on New Year's Day, Nalbandian has been building towards a return to the scene of his amazing feat. This time, rather than 28th, he is seeded sixth - and in Tim Henman's section. They could meet in the fourth round. When we talked at the Barcelona tournament recently, Nalbandian was cagey about his Wimbledon prospects. "I took much confidence from what I did there a year ago," he said. "It was so special for me, my first time at Wimbledon. This time, if I play my best tennis, I hope to do well. That will be my goal, and that's it."

Without resorting to bragging, however, Nalbandian is confident of another good showing. "I like grass, because it is pretty fast and I have a good return."

After the French Open, Nalbandian went home to Unquillo, the town of 20,000 which celebrated the Wimbledon feat by naming a bus stop and a hot-dog stand in his honour. "It is a very small town, so everybody there is important," he explained. "It doesn't matter who I am.

"We have other famous people who play football and drive rally cars. We have many sportsmen."

But this year, rather than prepare for the grass by practising on the cricket square at the Hurlingham Club in Buenos Aires, Nalbandian has been competing in an eight-man exhibition event at Stoke Park. In the spring he changed coaches, dismissing Gabriel Markus after two-and-a-half years and taking on Eduardo Infantino. "I think Infantino will give me a new direction, that's my aim, that's what I chose him for." The two men have developed a fresh physical programme, and Nalbandian claims: "Now I am very strong."

He is also, in the opinion of Vilas, the best of the new Argentinian brigade. Taking time out from his corporate duties at the Marsh Classic seniors event at the other Hurlingham Club, the one in London, Vilas said: "All the others are very good, but none has got close to what Nalbandian did. All of these players worked with me, so I know them."

Almost all the ones who are doing well on the tour come from small towns, which Vilas feels could be a pointer for British hopes. "The place to look for young talent is not in the clubs, you have to go in the back streets and look for something, some sign of good hands, whatever. The most important thing is to pick the right players, because you can't train an elephant to be a giraffe." And preferably, it seems, you need someone with blood on his knees and a wild look in his eyes.