Nalbandian opens war of words with Hewitt
Nalbandian launched the opening salvo in psychological battle
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Thursday, 21, Sep 2006 10:04
Argentina's David Nalbandian renewed his long-standing feud with Australian Lleyton Hewitt as their countries prepare to face off in the Davis Cup semi-final.
In a statement that will only increase the hostility between the two camps, he said of Hewitt that "nobody is a friend of him".
The Argentinean public have already taken against the former world number one after he arrived in Buenos Aires with two bodyguards in tow.
Nalbandian also made bold predictions of victory buoyed by inspiring his nation to victory in the southern hemisphere last year.
"We won in Australia (4-1) and we will again here," he said.
But Hewitt's teammate Mark Philippoussis has already hit back claiming that Nalbandian's comment are motivated by fear rather than confidence and warning of an Australian backlash.
"I think he's mouthing off because he's a little scared. He is a very complete claycourt player and very comfortable on this surface and we're playing in Argentina, but I kind of feel there's something special going to happen this weekend," he said.
Australian captain John Fitzgerald also sought to turn the tables on Nalbandian, claiming his comments were actually counterproductive for Argentina's hopes of progressing to a final against either Russia or the USA.
"I like it when the opposition say we can't win a match out of five. I love that because that obviously means we've got no pressure. Someone's got pressure, but not us," he said.