Cilic d. Nalbandian, 5-7 6-4 4-6 7-6(2) 6-3

Altogether, it was a mixed bag for Team Argentina on Friday.  El Rey played the opening rubber against Cilic, in a match that lasted over 5 hours.  It was not a pretty match, by any means (with a combined 241 UFEs), and both players’ level seemed to drop even further as the match went on.  Cilic took the first rubber for Croatia.

This is El Rey’s first 5-set loss at Davis Cup, and only his sixth loss in the singles rubbers.

In between the error-ridden points were some long rallies, where Cilic stretched Nalby out wide.  Nalby has had trouble playing on clay, ever since the hip injury that required hip surgery and a long layoff in 2009.  Given how Nalby had to skip the Madrid and Rome Masters last year, along with Roland Garros, due to a leg injury, I was…