Estoril Open 2006 News and Events

David Nalbandian
© Wire Image

David Nalbandian (audio) joined Spain’s Carlos Costa (1992, 1994) and Thomas Muster of Austria (1995-96) as two-times champion of the Estoril Open on Sunday.

In the first No. 1 seed versus No. 2 seed final since the ATP tournament began in 1990, Nalbandian triumphed 6-3, 6-4 over Russian No. 2 seed Nikolay Davydenko.

Nalbandian was in imperious form winning his third match in five meetings over Davydenko in one hour and 20 minutes.

It was the Argentine’s first ATP title since beating ATP World No. 1 Roger Federer for the 2005 Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, and fifth in total.

Nalbandian improves his career record at the Estadio Nacional to 10-1 from three visits, while Davydenko – the 2003 winner – has a 22-11 ATP record this season.

Incidentally, this year’s final also marked the fifth straight year that an Argentine had reached the final.

Nalbandian captured his first ATP title at the Estadio Nacional in 2002, while Agustin Calleri (2003 finalist), Juan Ignacio Chela (2004 winner) and Gaston Gaudio (2005 champion) also contested the championship match.

WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID

Nalbandian: "It's always a great feeling to win a final. I won here in 2002, and I hadn't come back since then, so it's great to be back here and win the title again.

"I think today was probably the best match I played this week. I played very solid from the beginning, we had a couple of great rallies, especially when I served for the match at 5-2, he was hitting the ball as hard as he could and made a few great shots.

"I am dedicating this victory to all the Argentines that came to support me here in Estoril, my physio who is with me here this week, and all my family back home, who is always there with me, in the good and the bad times.

"I'm flying tomorrow to Rome where I hope I will be having good results."

Davydenko: "It was very difficult, I wasn't in the greatest shape today. My back was feeling fine, I had no pain, I just felt tired and had a hard time getting into the match. I tried as hard as I could but I couldn't do anything, David played a great match.

"For me it's been a very positive week, I reached the final and defeated Marat Safin and Carlos Moya for the first time in my career."