Tennis' Greatest Wasted Talent | The Man Who Destroyed Federer & Nadal "Twice" in 14 Days! 

It's not wasted when you mop the floor with the best of your time and then proceeds to enjoy life with your family... in my book that's a win.

Nalbandian was pure talent and intelligence. But he himself has said that he didn't want to lose the opportunity to enjoy other things in life because of tennis, that's why he didn't give it that much priority. It wasn't a lack of commitment, it was a choice.

Nalbandian was on vacation drinking wine and eating asado and they called him to go to the masters and he wiped the floor with everyone.

Federer once said that Nalbandian was a number one undercover

The ball-striking, the touch, the shot-selection, the footwork, anticipation, reflexes, tennis IQ, creativity, all-court game... what a player.

He wasn't a wasted talent. He got to be number 3. You don't get to that level if you're wasting your talent. He just pursued other passions aside from tennis. But we all remember him as a tremendous player. Long live El Rey David.

For a fun tidbit, two of players Nalbandian beat before the big 3 in his Madrid run were Del Potro and Berdych

The best double backhanded I have ever seen.

Nalbadian is incredible. He's also a great driver. When he was not playing tennis, he was doing motor racing (rally). The man lived his life. He could've been a better tennis player, but he choose not, gratefully he gifted us with unforgivle matches. 🇦🇷

El rey David.

15 years old, hes my idol, doesnt really matter if hes retired or not, love him so much😃

El Ronaldinho del tenis. Fiestero como pocos! 🎉🎉

That match at máster was amazing. Never saw Nadal so lost.

Made tennis look easier , really pleasant to watch

Nalbandian wasn't a wasted talent because he won 2 masters 1000 and the season ending master final beating Federer in an epic 5 set final final and won some other tournaments, he just didn't win a slam..he was a great player and competitor when he was in good form. Ernestes Gulbis is a wasted talent in comparison..

Not a tennis fan. But even a non-fan like me can see this isn't a fluke, and he's not catching anybody on a bad day -- that Nalbandian is just overwhelming and -- gotta say it -- embarrassing these super-elite, all-time great players because he's just so much stronger, faster, smarter. Eye-popping, jaw-dropping to see, to say the least.

Tenia tanto talento como vocacion por la joda. Amaba verlo jugar la Davis para Argentina, era victoria segura

Nalbandian toyed with the Big Three. Never seen anything quite like it

Nalbandian no ganó al menos un Grand Slam ni tampoco fué aún más grande, porque él no quiso. Le sobraban cualidades y talento para medirse ante cualquiera, pero lamentablemente se dejaba estar, subía de peso y se inclinaba hacia su otra pasión: el rally. Por él; en mi adolescencia, madrugaba para verlo jugar en el Abierto de Australia, sólo por él. Saludos.

Talent without commitment will not get you to the top. When he put his focus onto his game he was real good. It 's his choice. Still l admire him for his talent. Even more l've said it before this channel celebrates tennis players champions or near champions. Thanks Wivo.

At 5:14... I haven't seen anyone replying better than this to Federer's brutal forehand...hats off..

Superlative 2-handed backhand, when his serve and forehand accompanied him it was ... whell as you can see, unstoppable. ❤

In career matches, Nalbandian had 8 wins vs. Federer 11 wins. Against Nadal, he won 2 vs. Nadal's 5 wins. 1 win in 5 vs. Djokovic. Very talented. He's now Rally Racing in Argentina.

Tremendo mostro el Rey David, el verdadero Unquillosaurus.

My favorite player with Roger.

Solid player our Dave !!!!!!!

I was introduced to Nalbandian in 2006 or 07 at an event by a marketing agency. It was for an ad campaign we were interested in using his image. When the owner of the agency introduced me to Nalbandian and his manager, we were speaking for about a minute when a very attractive girl goes by, and Nalbandian proceeds to makes a comment, turns around and leave to try to pick her up. The ad agency guy told me that Nalbandian had quite the weakness for females, food and cars. He may be one of the only top 10 tennis players with a bit of a beer belly. To be a great in any sport requires a special drive, hyper competitiveness, incredibly talent and dedication to practicing and hyper focus. Nalbandian had almost alll except he didn't have the consistency and he wanted to be a rally race driver. It would've been great to see how everything would have turned out if he had Federer's personality.

Pero a tener en cuenta que no solo le gano a los 3 grandes, le gano en esos torneos a Moya, Ferrer, Del Potro, Gasquet, tremendo lo de Nalbandian en ese momento, una lastima que era un jugador con altibajos y problemas físicos, pero técnicamente estaba a la par de de los mejores.

Insane this dude never won a slam. At least Safin (also an underachiever won 2)

I'm from Cordoba just 40 kms from where Nalbandian was born (Unquillo). He was top 3 in the world at one point (I think it was around 2007 as well). He was our ace player Davis Cup for many years. Whenever he played on a Davis Cup you knew that he would most likely win his singles matches and it was only up to the other players to help out to close the series. Unfortunately he wasn't able to win it either even though he tried really hard. Del Potro ended up lifting that trophy for him. Nalbandian was pure talent and he's a chill and nice guy !

We all know it's the warrior more so than the sword, but a fair amount of credit goes to the strung spec that David was able to wield: a Yonex RDX 500 MP, extended to 28" (for extra reach and angular leverage), weighed up to a solid 377 grams and swinging at a bulldozing 377 swing weight. You get that much racquet moving and leveraged the way he could, and you're going to do some serious damage, as he did, even against those wielding similar specs -- because most other players couldn't. That ability alone was unmatched by most then, and even by most up until now -- to say nothing of the intelligence, tennis IQ, touch and finesse he had to go along with it. Incredible athlete, wielding an incredible spec, making for a crazy combo of creativity, precision and counter-attacking, and of course, one of the best two-handed backhands to ever grace the game. Very likely the best to never win a slam, indeed.

Truly remarkable talent

Watching players like Nalbandian or Kyrgios, you realise that in the end it's the mental side (on and off the court) that separates you from being a Great Player to being a Legend. That's why Federer, Nadal and Djokovic are what they are besides their technical skills.

Loco El Rey..this guy was the strangest phenomena in tennis, in genetic terms I could say he was his own father from another mother or even he was his own mother from another father! Such a player in such an era of tennis..much appreciation to what he did overall, never a waste, the waste was the linesman he kicked 😂

Qué lindo era verlo jugar a Nalbandián!! Estando en su top podía disputarle y ganarle a estos monstruos y, por momentos, como con cierta facilidad porque lo hacía con mucha soltura y recursos de élite. Además del tenis, le gustaba hacer otras cosas también y quizá por eso no obtuvo más títulos, pero seguramente disfrutó todo muchísimo y considero que también en un nivel tan alto y justo en una época que quizá dió la mejor camada de toda la historia, poder ubicarse en la cima requería de un gran sacrificio porque las diferencias son mínimas y nadie regalaba nada. Ojalá tuviésemos otro argentino que se le pudiese acercar un poco al Gran David!

He could have been more, but he was still top ten for 5 years, not many players can say that

Thanks for paying tribute to this wonderful player, 👏

Nalbandian 2007 is far from his peak level, not able to make QF in any of the 4 Grand Slams. After that, he'd never even make to another GS 4th round. Nalbandian 2002-2006 is where he truly shines as a top player. The two fabulous masters1000 title runs in 2007 are supernormal plays.

David was touched by the divine providence, in terms of skill set to play tennis, he was incredible, but his lack of professionalism never allowed him to be amongst the best 3 and win a great tournament, besides de Mater in Shanghai 2005 He loved women, night life, car racing and a bit of crazy style of life.

These pictures show he could do whatever he wanted to do! Imagine if this guy had worked ! I saw him practicing at Roland Garros in 2007, never saw such ease to put the ball the same exact spot 10 times straight... i'm still shocked.

Juan Carlos Ferrero too but he's getting the last laugh by becoming Alcarazes coach.

Нальандян относится к той категории игроков, суперталант, но ужасно ленивый! Мог добиться куда больше, если б пахал на тренировках

I remember those matches. Nalbandian was ridiculous indoors.

Impresionante el talento de David. De haber querido hubiese logrado ser el uno del mundo. Ganar esos puntos contra semejantes genios es algo que muy poquitos lograron.

How I was delighted seeing him play with his mix of power, intelligence and subtleness. I hate he retired!

"Wasted talent". 99% of the tennis players would love to be this "wasted"...beating prime both Federer and Nadal.

He wins in the best time of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic. His level on this tournament was the best I have seen in a man.

Pure raw talent and the best double backhanded i ever seen.

Too bad he was hurt so much. Imagine a healthy Nalbandian in his prime against Nadal and Federer in their prime. The ridiculous tennis level at that time would have gone to an even higher level.

I think Nalbandian has the best two handed backhand shot I remember.

Had he trained, followed a healthy diet and deprived from going to discos, no doubt Nalbandian would've been tennis all time number one

El más entretenido para ver, por la calidad de sus golpes. Mucho talento para este deporte, pero tenía más talento para los asados con amigos. Vive la vida que todos queremos pero no podemos. Un absoluto genio.

I remembered the name but didn’t remember/realize the incredible level of talent this guy possessed - thanks for letting me and other people know!

El Rey David! crack total

Nadal's h2h with Nalbandian is 5 to 2

Puro disfrute verlo jugar . Es lo que hizo , jugó al Tenis , lo disfrutó , nunca lo tomó demasiado en serio . De habelo hecho , con semejante talento natural ....creen que no hubiese sido N° 1 ? Simplemente no lo buscó , la vida le pasaba por otro lado . Te extraño David ! Gracias por tanto disfrute viendote jugar

Nalbandian was an outrageous talent on tennis court, the only player to defeat Prime Roger Federer and beast mode Rafa convincingly in their prime!!!! It's just that he didn't concentrate on tennis enough, swimming with sharks, paragliding and mountain jumping were his real passion in his best years!!!! He has absolute mastery over every shot and great anticipation on returns, perfect timed fore hands and a near perfect backhand which was more lethal than Novak and Agassy as per me because of the angles he could create from every corner or the court!! Above all, he had the great gift which comes to only a very few, the ability to tweak his game according to the opponent he plays. His game against Roger was a complete different one , he adopts while he plays Rafa or Davydenko or Novak!!!! Game wise, I have never seen an opponent heckling Roger Federer in pre 2010 on a hard court, while all the others were at a distant level!!!! He could be the only one A fully fit Rafa felt helpless against, In that period!!!! Anybody having doubts on these, pl go and watch his 2007-2008 period matches against the best of the game!!!! If he was around with the passion in tennis as the big three, he wud have been the one to go past 20 slams easily!!!!

Djokovic had a lot to improve and the Masters Series of Madrid and Paris was a nightmare for Nadal,he never won Paris and Madrid even on clay a few years later was the toughest of the clay season tournaments for him,but beating Federer in 2007 twice in a roll it's insane,Nalbandian was definitely not a wasted talent,he was better than most of these house party pay check spoiled brats today,with the exception of Alcaraz and Sinner.

Molto bene grazie frufru.

The Ronaldinho of tennis.

Nalbandian was great. But people said he didn't bother to eat and train well as the greats did.

My all time favorite player!

It's exactly the same with Gulbis, when he was focus on his game he destroyed anyone, but he never trained. Gulbis lived like a rockstar, unfortunately 🫤

Similar to the phenomenon that was Miloslav Mecir in the late 80's. He made it to two Gram Slam Finals and was especially hard on the great Swedish players of that time (Edberg, Wilander, Nystrom, etc).

Jogava muito!

Dude is a legend. He beat these dudes in their absolute prime.

Nal had the potential to become the first double backhanded GOAT of modern tennis!

What a player!!!

TE QUIERO DAVIDDDDD

This dude was like Agassi on steroids minus the Slams Whale of a talent!

Nalbandian just didn’t have enough the same stamina and ability to maintain such a high standard for long periods of time.

Difference is quite visible that why he was able to do what other were not as he is standing quite closer even inside the baseline so is able to hit these one two punches on regular basis

You need to see the Davis cup match against Hewitt in Australia.

I remember this when David beat the top 3 players Federer, Nadal, and Novak in consecutive tournaments..it was unbelievable...but I dont feel sorry for the players mentioned they each won over 20 grand slams each and reached world #1. So I think I will take Fed,Nad or Novak career any day.

it must have been something else to watch the best backhands of the two different styles in the same time on the same court.

Another one of these explosive dangerous players you never wanted to have to play, underrated but capable of anything. Of course everyone now thinks of Kyrgios, but Gael Monfries, Tommy Haas, Michael Stich, Goran Ivanisevic - unbelievable games on their day but just unfortunate not to have dominated in their time.

I always like Nalbandian, big, powerful, and remarkably fast for his size.

El rey david

He was top 5 for over 10 years!!...by no means wasted talent..!!!

El Rey David es nuestro último y verdadero talento.

The only person I’ve ever seen make the 2HBH look beautiful

his backhand was better than anyone's back then

Corner to corner. Run the life out of the opponent. Great stuff.

I always appreciate guys so insanely talented that they can live a very not-Spartan type of life, but still occasionally destroy elite competition, just because they had nothing better to do that week. An athlete that instantly comes to mind these days is Nikola Jokić, who just wants to go back home to Vojvodina and be with his horses. :D Btw, earning more than 11 million dollars during carreer in which he occasionally had beer belly can hardly be defines as 'wasted talent'. Not everyonw is obsessed with success and legacy.

You often see talented LatAm players not having long successful careers, don't ask me why. Vilas, Kuerten did well, Delpo might have been another one with the right mindset but he got injured all the time unfortunately. Nalbandian, Coria, Rios, such ridiculous talents but couldn't make it as multiple Slam winners which was certainly possible considering their talents and skills.

beautiful time from 2005 to 2018 of tennis, I feel that they were the golden years, Federer, Nadal, Nole and Murray, eventually players like Nalbandian, Delpo and many others appeared, I feel that that magic was lost with the crop of new players, I think the younger players hardly value winning grand slams or masters... it's like "oh, another tournament I've won", very lazy

When Nalbandian was in form there's never been a better ball striker.

Todos los argentinos y Latinoaméricanos aprendimos a creer q podíamos ser alguien en el tenis gracias al maestro Marcelo Ríos

"Wasted" is a hard word. The man who loved to party and had an amazing talent is better!

Terrible player 👏👏👏👏👏 se quedaba sin físico muchas veces, pero un tenista al nivel de los top cuando estaba entero

His return is so brutally fast

Un grande…

Reaching that level is a great achievement but few can maintain it like the big three did...

The difference being Fedal was in their prime and in 2007 Novak wasn`t even close his prime. Novak`s best play, with his physicality being at 100% came only at 2011 and it lasts ever since.

Wasted? What a terrible title for this video! Nalbandian reached the top of the tennis world, competed with the best, often beat the best, and earned millions in the process--success by any measure! Anyone who might see his career as a failure just doesn't appreciate all the factors that pertain to a multiple Slam winner. Some of these factors are within one's control, and many are not.

he was one of the players when having o good week he beats all of them , he was nr 3 at one time so not wasted talent he only didnt had the same goals as the big 3

the skillest

What a talent and what a waste of talent, he really should have been a multiple slam winner and challenged the big three for several years. He had Roger's number until he hit his prime, but could still throw up surprises against him.

Cuando a Nalbandian la remera no le marcaba un abdomen adiposo, era imbatible! A Nalbandian le gustaba mucho el asado( carne cocinada a las brasas) y por ahí perdía estado físico por comerlo en demasía!

Que jugador...si hubiera querido hubiera llegado a ser número 1..