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By Andy Luse
(August 3, 2010) Playing his first ATP event since April, David Nalbandian made up for lost time by making quick work of Rajeev Ram at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington, DC on Monday night.
Looking fit and playing fast, Nalbandian cruised in a 6-4, 6-0 win over American serve-and-volleyer-Ram in only 52 minutes. The Argentine wild card did not face a break point in the match and converted four of his five break points in dissecting Ram's game.
Former champion James Blake was not nearly as impressive in bowing to 119th-ranked qualifier Ryan Sweeting, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Blake, who also squandered a lead in losing to Feliciano Lopez in Los Angeles last week, said his indecision on court is due to a lack of match play.
"I think it was pretty evident tonight that I wasn't doing the things I need to do to win matches. I played tentative on a lot of points," Blake said. "That's the way it goes when you don't have a lot of matches. I played tentative on a lot of the break points. When you don't have a lot of matches, you're not going after the shots. I need to play more matches, and I need to find a way to get that confidence back."
The 23-year-old Sweeting, who called the result "one of the best wins of my career", meets 14th-seeded Frenchman Michael Llodra next.
Next up for Nalbandian is a second-round match with seventh-seeded Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka.
Injury-induced inactivity has dropped the former World No. 3's ranking to No. 117. Nalbandian underwent hip surgery in May of 2009 that sidelined him for nine months. A slight tear in the abductor muscle of his right leg shelved Nalbandian following his run to the Monte Carlo quarterfinals in April.
Trying to shake off injuries in his first ATP event since Monte Carlo, Nalbandian is eager to launch his US Open Series in DC.
Nalbandian looks to have made a complete recovery although he admitted post-match that the healing process "can be tough and how it feels can change day-to-day."
Nalbandian moved extremely well and methodically picked apart Ram’s game—attacking his weaker backhand side and coming into net. Ram’s only major weapon, his serve (which looks to be patterned after Pete Sampras’), was not strong enough to frustrate Nalbandian’s crisp return game. In the second set, Ram’s backhand slice completely broke down and his will was broken by around the third game.
After the match, Nalbandian said "that he feels good" and is looking forward to "getting points" in Washington, Toronto, and Cincinnati in order to boost his ranking before the US Open.
It was Nalbandian's third consecutive victory. He scored straight-sets victories over sixth-ranked Nikolay Davydenko and 14th-ranked Mikhail Youzhny to lead Argentina to a Davis Cup quarterfinal conquest of host Russia in Moscow last month.
Three-time DC champion Andy Roddick takes on Grega Zemlja in his opening match at 7 p.m. tonight. Atlanta finalist John Isner meets Thiemo de Bakker immediately after the Roddick match in a rematch of the Wimbledon second round in which de Bakker beat a weary Isner, who was coming off the longest match in tennis history.
Tennis Channel will air live coverage of the Legg Mason Classic starting on Thursday at 4 p.m. Eastern time.
Tennis Now contributing writer Andy Luse is in Washington, DC covering the Legg Mason Tennis Classic.