You are wrong on a number of counts. Firstly, this board went into a frenzy when Nalbandian beat Federer and Nadal in two consecutive tournaments and ended up winning two Masters Series titles. Many were picking him as one of the huge favourites at the Australian Open and were hoping he would challenge the top 2 over the course of the year. I knew better. Go back and look at the archives around that time. The same happened with Djokovic at the start of the year. Some were picking him to end the year as No.1, but by the middle of the year they had calmed down. Now there are some murmurs again after his success at the Masters Cup. Murray is experiencing the same imperceptive myopia common on these boards. Recent success and you are the second coming, a drop in fortune and you are a no good underachiever who will most likely fail to do anything great. That's how it works here. If Murray or Djokovic have a poor start next year, remember this post.
The other thing you are wrong about is your claim that players don't improve at and beyond Nalbandian's age. At this level, players are not going to improve at the age of 50, but at 26 Nalbandian can certainly still improve and maintain a high level over the next decade if he continues to play. I know this from personal experience and the fact many players, including Sampras, are on record saying they improved as players as they got older. Sampras said he played the best he ever had in the final of his last Slam win when he was 31. Also look at Nalbandian's first ever match and most recent match with Murray. The first time they met was at Wimbledon 2005 after Murray had just turned 19. Murray won the first 2 sets, the second of which was a breadstick. He was ranked 312 at the time and Nalbandian was a former Wimbledon finalist who would end that year at No.6. Murray ultimately lost the match in 5 sets because he ran out of gas. 3 years later in 2008 when Murray is a much better player, much stronger, much fitter, much more experienced, a Slam finalist himself, ranked No.4 in the world and on the hot streak of his life, with Roger Federer being amongst his recent scalps, and Nalbandian at No.8, they play again at the Paris Masters. What happens? Nalbandian straight sets Murray in an awesome display of tennis. What does that tell you? It tells me that everyone is at such a high level that nothing can be predicted with any confidence in this sport unless there is a clear separation in the respective ability between players.
