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  • Indian Wells Third Round: Radek Stepanek vs. David Nalbandian

    3/18/08 1:15 AM | Ricky Dimon
    - There might not be a more difficult Pacific Life Open third-round match to pick than Radek Stepanek vs. David Nalbandian. They got here in very different ways, but it doesn’t look like much will separate the two on Tuesday in Indian Wells.

    The 1-1 head-to-head score will be settled when Radek Stepanek and David Nalbandian square off in the third round at the Masters Series Indian Wells. Like Tuesday’s matchup, both of the previous two tilts were contested on hard courts. Stepanek took the first one three years ago in Rotterdam, Netherlands 6-2, 4-6, 6-1. Nalbandian got revenge one season later at the Masters Series Miami with a 6-3, 6-4 victory.

    Stepanek is playing solid tennis right now and should feel good about his chances against Nalbandian even though he will be the underdog. The 29-year old Czech has two first-round exits in 2008, including to Vince Spadea at the Australian Open, but other than that he has posted encouraging results. Stepanek reached the semifinals in Sydney, made it to the quarterfinals in Wroclaw, finished runner-up to Andy Roddick in San Jose, and most recently progressed to the semifinals in Memphis. This week the No. 29 seed appears to be picking up right where he left off, as he rolled over qualifier Max Mirnyi 6-4, 6-2 in the second round on Sunday.

    Nalbandian is also in fine form at the moment, but what he’s doing now is nothing compared to the streak he enjoyed last fall. The Argentine, ranked No. 7 in the world and seeded seventh at the Pacific Life Open, stunned the field at the Masters Series Madrid, beating Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Roger Federer in consecutive matches to take the title. Two weeks later Nalbandian pulled off another shocking title at the Masters Series Paris. He took out Federer and Nadal in that one as well; Federer in the third round and Nadal in the final. Nalbandian kicked off this season with a disappointing blowout loss to Juan Carlos Ferrero in the third round of the Australian Open, but he has since righted the ship. He won the title in Buenos Aires and then finished runner-up in Acapulco (lost to Nicolas Almagro). Nalbandian survived a huge test from Ernests Gulbis on Sunday and sometimes that’s just what a player needs to kick-start a deep tournament run. He came back from 5-3 down in the third set to defeat the 19-year-old Latvian in a deciding tiebreaker.

    It won’t get any easier against Stepanek. Nalbandian has a clear edge from the baseline and he will aim to keep his aggressive opponent pinned back in the court with deep groundstrokes. Stepanek is going to get into net whenever possible, whether it’s serve-and-volleying or chip-and-charging off the Nalbandian serve. If he wants to be successful in his approaches, Stepanek will pick on the Argentine’s forehand, so as to avoid the lethal backhand passing shot. Nalbandian should have a slight advantage because his strong return game and passing shots can frustrate players at net, but with the way Stepanek has been playing, it’s anyone’s ballgame.

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