Another show of wobbles raises doubts over Nalbandian's tennis

David Nalbandian heads to the Australian Open fresh from taking his 10th ATP title, but another bout of mid-match wobbles in the final have raised old doubts about whether he can ever win a grand slam.

Nalbandian comes to Melbourne unbeaten in four matches this year after becoming the first Argentine ever to win the Sydney International, capturing the title on Saturday night.

But the Argentine, whose 2002 Wimbledon final is his best return in 28 grand slams, again displayed one of the anxiety attacks that have beset his career during his three-set win over Finnish journeyman Jarkko Nieminen.

The 27-year-old was sailing along with a straight-sets demolition of the 40th-ranked Nieminen looming inside an hour, until it came time to serve it out for the match and title -- and then he faltered.

Nalbandian, who had not lost his serve in eight service games, was broken to love at 5-4 and opened the door for Nieminen to storm back, take the second set 11/9 in a tiebreaker and rattle the Argentine back-courter.

Nalbandian steadied the ship in the third set with help from Nieminen's errors to close out the match and the championship, but he knows he cannot afford a repeat in Melbourne.

"It was a tough match. I feel that I played very good sometimes and sometimes not that good," Nalbandian said.

"I had the chance to finish at 5-4 serving for the second set. Maybe that is something I have to improve to keep going in a slam.

"If I lose a set, I have to play two more sets (in a best-of-five match), so it takes longer. You don't want that in the first few rounds. So I have to improve on that."

Nalbandian has a history of collapses and claims of being out of shape that have prevented him from realising his early promise, when he reached the Wimbledon final as a 20-year-old at his first attempt.

But he was vanquished 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 by Lleyton Hewitt in that one.

He had match points against eventual champion Andy Roddick in the 2003 US Open semi-finals. In the 2006 Australian Open he slipped up when serving for the match in a semi-final against Marcos Baghdatis.

Since reaching the semi-finals of the 2006 French Open, Nalbandian has only reached the fourth round twice in the last 10 slams.

"It's tough. I've been close a few times and I never could make it," he said. "I always come to a grand slam with a lot of confidence and believing I can win it. So this one is going to be one of them, and I want to try."

Nalbandian, a four-time quarter-finalist at the Australian Open, is seeded 10th this year and will begin his campaign against Frenchman Marc Gicquel on Tuesday.

Just to reach the Australian Open final on February 1, Nalbandian will likely have to get past American Andy Roddick, defending champion Novak Djokovic and three-time champion Roger Federer.