No one can question David Nalbandian’s patriotism. The Argentinean has competed in Davis Cup for the past seven years, and has given his country’s supporters a host of memories thanks to some clutch, emotion-filled performances. But the surname “Nalbandian” is actually Armenian in origin, which the former Wimbledon finalist has acknowledged of late.
Nalbandian’s introduction to tennis originally stemmed from his paternal grandfather, who built a cement court in the backyard of the family’s home in Cordoba. Although they lived in Argentina, the seeds were sown from his Armenian family’s love of the sport.
This week, the 26-year-old decided to forgo the ATP events in Metz and Tokyo in favor of playing an exhibition in Armenia, after an invitation was extended from the President of the Tennis Federation of Armenia, Harutyun Pambukyan, and renowned Argentinean-Armenian businessman, Eduardo Ernekian.
The three-day visit is the first and long-awaited trip for Nalbandian to Armenia. He arrived in the capital city of Yerevan on Wednesday night to play against Armenia’s second-ranked player, Harutian Sofian. Nalbandian won the match, which was televised via satellite, 6-3, 6-4. Afterwards, Nalbandian said that he hopes to return to Armenia again, where he now has residency status.
This was not Nalbandian’s first connection to Armenian sports. He has previously shown support of Homenetmen, an Armenian athletics and scouting club in Argentina from his youth.
Nalbandian is not the only well-known tennis player of Armenian origin. Longtime Las Vegas resident Andre Agassi also has connections to Armenia. Andre’s father, Mike, changed his last name from “Agassian” to “Agassi” after he immigrated to the United States from Iran.
Armenia is a small land-locked nation in Eurasia, surrounded primarily by Turkey and countries of the Middle East. It is also a former Soviet Republic. It currently has four players on the ATP Tour, the highest ranked of which is Tigran Martirosyan at No. 571.