Confident as David Nalbandian is, he harbored some doubts about how he would play at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic.After all, he was ranked 117th after missing about 12 of the past 15 months because of injuries. He hadn’t played in a tournament since April. He needed a wild-card invitation merely to get into the field.
A week later, he leaves as the hard-court tournament’s champion—and someone to watch at the U.S. Open.
Argentina’s Nalbandian became the first player ranked outside the top 100 to win an ATP title in 2010, using his typically strong service returns and effective baseline game to beat No. 25 Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus 6-2, 7-6 (4) on Sunday in a Legg Mason final between two past Grand Slam finalists.