David Nalbandian will meet Horacio Zeballos in the second round of the ATP Santiago Open

David Nalbandian survived a second set hiccup on Tuesday to defeat Carlos Berlocq in the first round of the Movistar Open. His 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 victory has earned him a second round tie against fellow compatriot Horacio Zeballos. Zeballos is ranked outside of the top hundred, but shouldn’t be entirely written off. He ranked inside the top fifty last year, and might just be able to cause Nalbandian some trouble if he finds his rhythm.

Zeballos swept aside Brazilian qualifier Ricardo Hocevar with a confident performance in round one. He won the match 7-6(2), 6-4, though he’ll need to up his game significantly to have any success against Nalbandian. Nalbandian is the No. 1 seed this week, and is hotly tipped to win this event following the early departure of No. 2 seed Juan Monaco.

Zeballos and Nalbandian have never met previously in official competition. Whilst this arguably makes the match a little harder to predict, a Nalbandian victory seems to be the likely outcome. If things go to plan for Nalbandian, he should be able to wrap this one up within two sets.