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  • Nalbandian Goes the Distance Again, Beats Stepanek

    3/19/08 2:48 AM | Ricky Dimon
    - Two days after surviving Ernests Gulbis in a third-set tiebreaker, David Nalbandian takes out Radek Stepanek in yet another match that goes the maximum distance. Nalbandian advances to the fourth round of the Pacific Life Open.

    David Nalbandian sure hasn’t made life easy on himself this week in Indian Wells, but the Argentine is still alive and through to the fourth round. In his first match he outlasted Ernests Gulbis in a final-set tiebreaker and he was extended to limit once again on Tuesday by Radek Stepanek. Nalbandian escaped from the 29th-seeded Czech 7-6(1), 0-6, 7-6(6) in two hours and 13 minutes to advance to the fourth round of the season’s first Masters Series event.

    It was an interesting, topsy-turvy match from start to finish. Nalbandian got down 5-2 in the first set and Stepanek served for it at 5-3, but two double-faults donated the all-important break of serve to the No. 7 seed. Both players held the rest of the way to the tiebreaker, which Nalbandian dominated seven points to one.

    Just as he did against Gulbis two days earlier, Nalbandian could not stand prosperity and imploded in the second set. It was far worse this time around, however, as Stepanek leveled with the match thanks to a stunning 6-0 scoreline. Nalbandian put in just 50 percent of his first serves and won only four return points the entire set as he seemed content to play a third once he got down an early break.

    Perhaps it was Nalbandian’s preference to fall behind in the decisive set, because that certainly did not faze him against Gulbis. Stepanek went up an early break and eventually served for the match at 5-4, but like Gulbis before him, he was broken at love with the whole thing on his racket. Two holds later Nalbandian stared yet another final-set tiebreaker in the face and once more he surged to a seemingly insurmountable advantage. The Argentine, however, blew three match points starting at 6-3, only to win the next two points and the match 8-6.

    Nalbandian moves on to the fourth round, where he will take on Juan Carlos Ferrero in a rematch of a third-round clash two months ago at the Australian Open. Ferrero eased through that one 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 and holds a 3-2 advantage in the head-to-head battle.

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