Is David Nalbandian back?  After being bothered by a hip injury which caused him to spend a great deal of time on tour, Nalbandian made a decision to skip Wimbledon and play Davis Cup against Russia in Russia.  There, he was the hero of Argentina.  With Juan Martin del Potro still recovering from his wrist surgery and not expected to play the US Open, it fell on Nalbandian’s broad shoulders to keep Argentina’s hope alive.  He beat both Davydenko and Youzhny to help Argentina win 3-2.

In DC, he mowed down his opponents.  In the semifinals, he won 6-2, 6-2 against Marin Cilic.  Baghdatis must have been feeling deja vu in reverse.  In the seminfinals, he beat Malisse, 6-2, 7-6, where he was up a break and attempting to close out the match.  In the finals, it was Baghdatis that had a chance to break and extend to a third set.  Baghdatis got to set point on Nalbandian’s serve, but eventually, Nalbandian held and the two went into tiebreak.

There, Nalbandian rushed to a big lead, just as Baghdatis had a big lead over Malisse.  And just as Malisse was able to come back part way, Baghdatis attempted to claw back, but Nalbandian closed the deal and won his first title of the year.

Nalbandian used his big backhand and his superior return of serve to keep Baghdatis on his toes.  Baghdatis was still feeling some of the effects of a leg injury sustained in his semifinal match.

With this win, Nalbandian may be a good contender to go deep at the US Open.

As an aside, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic will play as a doubles team in Toronto, marking the first time the top two players have played doubles with each other since Arthur Ashe teamed up with Jimmy Connors in 1976.  Apparently, the two were planning to play last year, but Nadal’s stomach injury prevented that from happening.