I Think That Nalbandian Sort of Looks Like My Husband

David Nalbandian, from Argentina, beat Juan Del Potro, also from Argentina. I love David Nalbandian. I even pronounce his name the right way, the Spanish way, with the emphasis on the last syllable, like DaVID. (Even though he is part Armenian, hence the very un-Spanish last name, but I have no idea how to say David in an Armenian way, and besides, he is Argentine, even if he's part Armenian.)

Last night, around midnight, my husband went to bed but I stayed up until one in the morning watching the match. I really, really love David. Everyone, in particular, Johnny Mac, talks about how great Del Potro is, how he will be a top ten player. He is tall, I'll give him that. But I don't smell the magic. Now, I know what you are thinking. Johnny Mac knows more about tennis than I do, that is what you are thinking. But I don't care. In fact, maybe I should find someone who will make a bet with me about whether Del Potro gets in the top ten in the next two years. Like, a bet for a hundred bucks. A two year bet, seeing and watching if Del Potro gets into the top ten. Yeah, than I'll prove that Johnny Mac could be wrong and I could be right.

But Del Potro is very tall. Nalbandian, on the other hand, is a little shorter than my husband. I know this because two summers ago, my husband approached him in the hotel lobby where we all just so happened to be staying (that is a joke, by the way, as we really very purposefully stayed at the hotel where all players were staying for the Canada Open) and - David was a little shorter than him! He politely asked David for his autograph and said, "para mi esposa", which means for my wife. Now, that embarrassed me. I said to my husband, why didn't you say it was for your sons? I got a little angry.
But then I got over it.

But what I would like to share is that when I first fell in love with David Nalbandian, I did so partially because he looks like my husband twenty years ago. Some people don't see it, but I do. Both of them have sort of small heads on a big body, although my husband's head is a wee bit smaller. Both have little blue eyes rather close set. In fact, their eyes -David's and my husband's -- sit right next to either side of their noses. And they both have long, big shnazzes. And, well, so to me, they look alike. Same noses, same postioning of eyes? Of course, my husband used to have long, wavy, curly hair, too. But he doesn't anymore.

Oh, and another thing I like about David is his personality. His character. He's got that Argentine Orgullo (Pride ) thing going on, but he's not an asshole. In fact, no one is more impressive with his on-court manners than David. Federer is even a bit prickly in comparison to David. Really. He never throws hissy fits, like Roddick. He doesn't do wierd gamesmanshippy things, like a lot of nutjob players do. He's so cool out there. And I would love to get naked with him. Once, I did see him exchange words with Hewitt, but Hewitt in my mind deserved it. Hewitt has to have a bodyguard when in Argentina because the hate between him and all the Argentines is that big.

Anyway, David kicked Del Potro's ass which made me very happy. I love David's game - his groundstrokes are fierce, his serve can be very good and he gets everything back. He is possibly the best returner in the game when he's not injured, or getting all mental and sucking hard, like Verdasco did last night. (David can do that, too.) He made Del Potro look very awkward out there. I feel sort of badly not cheering on the underdog between these two, but love is love. I also feel badly for Del Potro because he's not as handsome as David. But, hey, he's a professional tennis player. He probably gets more tail than pin the tail on the donkey. (I stole that from Josh Homme, too, like I stole zeroing. Thanks Josh.)

Yours Truly,
Paula