Story ProgressBack to home
Novak beats Nalbandian in five-set thriller
Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic won the Swiss Indoors title at Basel on Sunday, defeating David Nalbandian of Argentina in a thrilling five-set final.
- Indo-Asian News Service
- Updated: February 25, 2007 09:04 AM IST
Read Time:2 min
Basel:
Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic won the Swiss Indoors title at Basel on Sunday, defeating David Nalbandian of Argentina in a thrilling five-set final. Novak bounced back from a set down to win 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 in just over three hours to claim the first indoors title of his career. Neither player dropped many points on their serve to start, keeping the match even until 2-2, when the two traded breaks. But a double fault and two stunning returns at 5-5 gave the decisive break to Nalbandian, who then held for the set. The Argentine was suddenly putting up little resistance, as Novak reeled off seven games in a row, breaking to go 5-3, evening the sets at one apiece, and jumping to a 4-0 lead in the third set. Nalbandian dug deep to retrieve one of the breaks, jumping to 40-0 at 5-2 with Novak saving one break point. Still struggling, Nalbandian saved a set point in the following game to hang on 5-4. But the effort was in vain, with Novak successfully serving out the set for a 2-1 lead. Whether it was letting off steam or a three-minute medical time-out late in the third set but Nalbandian appeared completely transformed when he entered the fourth. Novak was able to hold just one service game at 3-0 before the Argentine won the last three games to even the sets. Novak takes lead In a tense final set, the two stayed neck-and-neck until Novak made the key break to take a 4-2 lead. Nalbandian dug his own grave at 5-2 when he misjudged a backhand smash before angrily trashing his second racket of the afternoon. The code violation meant the Argentine was starting his next serve at 0-15 and it wasn't long before Novak built up triple match point. The Czech hit a first forehand out, then Nalbandian saved a second match point after moving up on a deep serve and smashing a winner. But a backhand error that put the ball into the net on the last match point gave Novak the title. The defeat diminished Nalbandian's already slim chances of qualifying for the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup in Houston. (AP)Topics mentioned in this article
Tennis
Get the Latest IPL 2024 Updates, check out IPL 2024 schedules and IPL points table at NDTV Sports.Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for more sports updates. You can also download the NDTV Cricket app for Android or iOS.