Nalbandian's regrets at the 2006 Australian Open: "If I had beaten Baghdatis, I would have beaten Federer in the final"

In a no-holds-barred podcast, David Nalbandian revisits a painful chapter: a semifinal at the Australian Open that was in his hands.

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Adrien Guyot

le 16/12/2025 à 19h17

2 min to read

Baghdatis Marcos Federer Roger Nalbandian David Open d'Australie

Former world number 3, David Nalbandian was a formidable player in the 2000s. The Argentine is, in fact, the only one to have won a tournament by defeating all three members of the Big 3 in the same tournament, at the 2007 Madrid Masters 1000.

However, he never really managed to show the same consistency in Grand Slams. A finalist at Wimbledon against Lleyton Hewitt in 2002, he then missed a great opportunity at the 2006 Australian Open. In the semifinals against Marcos Baghdatis, the Argentine led two sets to zero before losing (3-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4).

"I did not expect this defeat"

Seeded number 4 in Melbourne that year, he could not reach the final, where he would have faced Roger Federer, as in the 2005 Masters final (Nalbandian won 6-7, 6-7, 6-2, 6-1, 7-6). The man himself reflects on what remains one of the biggest regrets of his career.

"I did not expect this defeat. I was leading two sets to zero, even though the match was very tough. It's a match I should have won. I would have played the final against Roger (Federer) again... and I think if I had beaten Baghdatis, I would have beaten Federer in the final, because we had just faced each other two months earlier at the Masters.

These situations just happen, there's nothing you can do about it. In tennis, you don't have time to celebrate or be sad for very long. It's a circus that moves very fast, and you always have to be on the train. You never have time to lament," Nalbandian stated on the Clank podcast.