Nadal says matches vs. Nalbandian are always tough

PanARMENIAN.Net - On March 16, Argentina-based ethnic Armenian David Nalbandian will face off against Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals of BNP Paribas Open, ongoing in Indian Wells, California.

Prior to their most recent meeting, which took place at the U.S. Open last year, Rafael Nadal was asked about his record against David. And back then, Nadal was convinced that David beat him three times when in fact it's been only two.

“I've played many matches against him. U.S. Open last year, Indian Wells 2009, Miami 2009 [that was in 2010], Madrid, Paris-Bercy... Those are all memories of difficult matches, especially the last ones because in the first ones he always beat me easily,” the player said.

For Rafael Nadal, #2 in the world, this is only the third tournament of the year. After starting the season at Doha, where he went out in the semifinal (against Gael Monfils), Nadal lost the final of the Australian Open against Novak Djokovic, a match that famously lasted almost six hours. He then took a month off before coming to Indian Wells, where he has cruised through the early rounds, never dropping more than five games against Leonardo Mayer, Marcel Granollers and Alexandr Dolgopolov, Nalbandian’s official fan blog reported.