NALBANDIAN BEGINS TITLE DEFENSE AT HOME
Kelli DeMario

tennistalk.com
2/16/09 5:05 AM

Defending champion David Nalbandian kicks off his Copa Telmex title
defense in Buenos Aires on Monday. The Argentine will battle Nicolas
Lapentti in the opening round.

The world No. 10 returns to competition for the first time since a
shocking second-round exit at the Australian Open in January.

Nalbandian, a 2006 semifinalist in Melbourne, lost a heartbreaking
five-set match to world No. 61 Yen-Sun Lu of Chinese Taipei. The
Argentine, seeded first in Buenos Aires, hopes to snag his 11th
career title in front of a partisan crowd this week. Nalbandian has
one title to his credit in 2009, capturing the championship in Sydney
over Jarkko Nieminen of Finland.

Veteran Nicolas Lapentti, ranked 85th in the world, has struggled to
find decent form in 2009, failing to reach the second round in four
consecutive tournaments. The 32-year-old Ecuadorian crashed out of
the Copa Telmex early in 2008, losing a first-round match to Argentine
Juan Pablo Brzezicki in straight sets.

Nalbandian and Lapentti have played three times in total, with the
Argentine a perfect 3-0 in the head-to-head series. The two last
met in the round of 64 at the 2007 Australian Open, with Nalbandian
winning in three comfortable sets.