Nalbandian Downs Listless Ljubicic
Nalbandian plays Davydenko in SF. By Bill Scott
Argentine David Nalbandian flattened an off-color Ivan Ljubicic 6-2, 6-2 Thursday to join Roger Federer and Nikolay Davydenko in the semifinals of the Tennis Masters Cup 2005.
After an heroic indoor autumn in which he won two titles and reached finals at the consecutive Masters Series tournaments in Madrid and Paris, Croatia's Ljubicic ran out of steam at precisely the wrong moment.
The sixth seed was well below par in a listless exercise which lasted just 67 minutes.
"There's really not much I can say," said a disappointed Ljubicic. "I couldn't do much really, he was playing unbelievable.
"There's nothing to feel ashamed of. But, I think it's fantastic just finish up the year. It's just disappointing to run out of gas just couple meters to the finish line."
Nalbandian, one of four Argentines in the field at the Qi Zhong tennis center, finished second in the Red group behind two-time tournament titleholder Federer, who secured his own spot in a fourth consecutive Masters Cup semi earlier in the week.
Ljubicic and Nalbandian owned a victory each in their two previous meetings: Nalbandian won when they met on indoor hard court in the semifinals of TMS Madrid in 2004.
Ljubicic reversed that result when they played in the same round at Madrid just under four weeks ago.
"I can play very good indoors," said a confident Nalbandian. "I feel that I can play very good everywhere, not just on this surface.
"If I could play all the time like this, I could be higher in the ranking, but it's not easy playing.
"Today I played one of my best matches indoors."
The last of the semifinal places will be decided on Friday when Chilean substitute Fernando Gonzalez and Argentine Gaston Gaudio face off, with the winner making it into the weekend.
Thursday was all Nalbandian from the start as the Argentine rolled to a surprising 5-0 first-set lead against the form player of the past six weeks.
With Ljubicic's momentum quickly evaporating, it was a matter of only three more games before the Argentine owned the opener. Ljubicic didn't help his own cause with 10 unforced errors.
Nalbandian consolidated in the second set as he sensed victory. A break for 2-1 once against put the South American into command, with Ljubicic facing a near-total collapse of confidence.
Nalbandian broke to love for 4-1, finishing off the victory on the first of three set points in the final game from Ljubicic's 22nd unforced error.
Exclusive Audio | Press Transcripts
Wednesday: Davydenko Remains Perfect in Shanghai
Tuesday: Federer Pushed to Limit by Ljubicic
Monday: Davydenko Defeats Injured Agassi
Sunday: Federer Wins Masters Cup Opener
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