David Nalbandian beat Marat Safin 5-7 6-4 6-7 3-6 today to advance to the quarter-finals of the French Open. The Argentinian's win means that he and three of his compatriots make up half of the players left in the tournament.
Guillermo Coria, Gaston Gaudio and Juan Ignacio Chela had already progressed to the next round before Nalbandian joined them.
He didn't have things all his own way though, and lost the third set in a play-off to prevent him going through in straight sets. It was a brief reprieve for Safin, and as blisters on his hands became more painful his chances of progression receded.
The Russian struggled in the fourth set and was unable to offer much resistance to his opponent who had the victory line in his sights.
A super lob gave Nalbandian a 2-0 advantage in the final set and from then on the result was a formality.
Earlier, Gaudio had become the third Argentinian to book his place in the last eight after he beat Russia's Igor Andreev in straight sets.
The win represented the first time Gaudio has reached the quarter-finals at Roland Garros, as well as his best ever performance at a Grand Slam. The Argentine was able to contain Andreev's forehand, though the Russian was instrumental in orchestrating his own downfall by committing a total of 61 unforced errors.
Gaudio took advantage of his opponent's poor play to secure his passage 6-4 7-5 6-2 in a little over two hours. The 20-year-old Russian had eliminated defending champion Juan Carlos Ferrero in the previous round, but he never reached those heights and Gaudio was a deserved winner.
The unseeded 25-year-old moves on to meet Australian Lleyton Hewitt
Filed by Séamus Leonard
