David Pablo Nalbandian (Spanish pronunciation: [daˈβið ˈpaβlo nalβanˈdjan]; born 1 January 1982) is an Argentine former professional tennis player.

Of Armenian and Italian descent, David Nalbandian was born in the small city of Unquillo in Córdoba Province, Argentina.

1 Argentine and South American for the first time in his career, winning two ATP titles and reaching the Wimbledon final, where he beat David Sánchez, Paul-Henri Mathieu, George Bastl, Wayne Arthurs, Nicolás Lapentti and Xavier Malisse before losing to Lleyton Hewitt.

In January 2006, Nalbandian beat Fabrice Santoro in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, becoming, at the time, only the second active player (along with Roger Federer) to have reached the semifinals of each Grand Slam tournament.

He lost in the semifinals to Marcos Baghdatis in a hard-fought five-set match, despite holding a two-set-to-love advantage and four games to two in the final set.

In May, he won the Estoril Open Tournament in Portugal for the second time, being one of only three men to achieve this accomplishment (Carlos Costa, 1992 and 1994; and Thomas Muster, 1995 and 1996).

[citation needed] 2007 saw Nalbandian drop out of the world's top 20 for the first time since 2003, after losing in the fourth round of the 2007 French Open to Nikolay Davydenko.

However, at the Australian Open, he failed to reach the quarterfinals, suffering a straight sets loss to the 22nd seed Juan Carlos Ferrero in the third round.

His indoor season, however, was a success, as he won his ninth career title at the 2008 Stockholm Open, defeating Robin Söderling in the final.

He was defending champion at the Madrid Masters but was quickly eliminated by fellow Argentine Juan Martín del Potro in the third round.

[9] He was fined $10,000 for leaving the stadium after his and Calleri's defeat in doubles to Spaniards Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano López, and for his refusal to appear at a subsequent press conference to comment on the Argentine team's setback.

[citation needed] Nalbandian started his 2009 tour by winning his tenth career ATP title at the Medibank International in Sydney, Australia, after defeating Finland's Jarkko Nieminen in the final.

[citation needed] Because of several knee injuries in the early part of the 2010 season, he finally made a return, beginning at the 2010 Copa Telmex, his hometown tournament.

He made a return to tennis by playing doubles for Argentina in the Davis Cup against Sweden in Stockholm, which he won in straight sets.

[citation needed] Playing in his first Masters Series event since Monte Carlo the previous year, he appeared at the 2010 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

[citation needed] In July, he played two singles matches for Argentina against Russia in the Davis Cup at the Olympic Stadium in Moscow.

He made his return in the 2010 Legg Mason Tennis Classic, where he won the title, his first since 2009 Medibank International Sydney after wins over Rajeev Ram, Stanislas Wawrinka, Marco Chiudinelli, Gilles Simon and Marin Čilić.

[10] The following week, he had a successful run to the quarterfinals in the Roger's Masters Series in Toronto, defeating David Ferrer, Tommy Robredo, and Robin Söderling, before losing to World No.

As sixth seed in the Auckland Open, Nalbandian beat Fabio Fognini, Philipp Kohlschreiber, John Isner, and Nicolás Almagro, without losing a set.

Due to a torn hamstring and a hernia, he missed many tournaments including Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome Masters.

[citation needed] In the Australian Open, Nalbandian had a five-set loss to Isner and was fined $8,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct following the match.

He then entered the first ATP Masters 1000 tournament of the year, the 2012 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, losing in the quarterfinals to Rafael Nadal.

40 in the ATP rankings but failed to progress past the first round in the 2012 French Open as he was beaten by the Romanian, Adrian Ungur in four sets.

He led his opponent Marin Čilić by a set but, having been broken to trail 3–4 in the second, was disqualified when he violently kicked a wooden partition in front of a seated line judge, injuring the linesman and drawing blood from his shin.

The kick was broadcast live on the BBC television coverage of the event, and a clip showing the incident was widely viewed on YouTube.

[17] An ATP spokesman stated that:Nalbandian automatically forfeited his prize money and ranking points due to his conduct default.

Nalbandian withdrew from the 2012 US Open due to a strained muscle in his chest, one day before his scheduled first-round match against compatriot and 2009 champion Juan Martín del Potro.

After the quarterfinal win over France in the Davis Cup, where he played doubles, he was forced to undergo an operation on his right shoulder, sidelining him for much of the 2013 season.

[26] Early in his career, Nalbandian was considered one of the most talented young players on tour, and touted as a future star of the game, alongside the likes of Roger Federer, Marat Safin and Andy Roddick.

However, injuries, lack of consistency, and poor mental temperament have been cited as his biggest weaknesses that prevented him from achieving his full potential.