Why Marat Safin has a few slams and David Nalbandian does not.<\/b><\/p>\n
Our intrepid reader Jenny placed David Nalbandian<\/b> in the same category as Marat Safin<\/b>: supremely gifted but lacking in commitment. I had never really thought to compare Nalbandian and Safin but after I thought about it for a while, I realized the comparison may explain why Safin has two slams and Nalbandian has none.<\/p>\n
When I look at Safin I think to myself: \u201cExtreme talent but, Lord, can he ever get out of his own way?\u201d When I look at Nalbandian I think: \u201cSolid, solid player but he\u2019s missing the world class monster-eating-must-win-at-any-cost gene.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of them has too much fire and the other doesn\u2019t have enough. I\u2019m not sure it\u2019s fiery competition that gnaws at Safin. He\u2019d have a tortured soul if we\u2019d never heard of him and he worked at a fish market. That\u2019s just his personality. And he\u2019s Russian. Russian literature is crawling with tortured souls.<\/p>\n
Tennis has had a few of its own. Boris Becker<\/b> qualified. Becker railed at himself on court and put himself in difficult positions off it. He married a black woman in post-war Germany and suffered through silly misdeeds such as fathering a child from a quickie encounter in a restaurant while his pregnant wife was in the hospital.<\/p>\n
Nalbandian is missing that fire. Nadal<\/b> has it, Djokovic<\/b> has it, Henin<\/b> lives and breathes it. I think Mauresmo<\/b> had it too though not any more. Nalbandian is a bit removed. There\u2019s nothing cerebral about wanting to kill your opponent. It\u2019s a very visceral feeling and there\u2019s something about Nalbandian that isn\u2019t visceral. He\u2019s there but floating just a bit above himself looking down and watching instead of being down and dirty in the mud slogging it out for all he\u2019s worth.<\/p>\n
Some people are more comfortable being runners-up. Nalbandian may be one of them. I used to play tennis with my friend Tremell every week. He was a much better player so I started each set with a three game lead. I was very proud when I reached the day that I didn\u2019t need a three game handicap but there was a problem. Tremell preferred starting each set down three games because he was more motivated when he was behind.<\/p>\n
Once you\u2019ve reached a number one ranking or won a slam and have to defend it, your job description changes. You\u2019re no longer part of the crowd trying to knock off the top player, you\u2019re job is fending off challengers. That requires even more confidence than it took to get to the top and that\u2019s why players like Safin and Mauresmo win one or two slams then stop. Their talent got them there but they don\u2019t have the personality to stay for any amount of time.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s getting harder to say that Nalbandian doesn\u2019t have the personality to win a slam. He won the Madrid and Paris Masters Series events this fall and that ain\u2019t half bad. But I\u2019m still gonna say it. I don\u2019t think he gets a slam.<\/p>\n
I expect Andy Murray<\/b>, one of those other tortured souls, to win one first.<\/p>\n
Teddy Awards<\/b><\/p>\n
Let\u2019s continue with our Teddy Awards voting. Next up: Most Surprising Player. Please go to the right side of the page and vote.<\/p>\n