Picture Of (Yester)Day

(Image: AP)

Mariano Zabaleta played Tommy Robredo in day two of the Masters Tennis 2016 Tournament on Tuesday. Robredo ultimately won the exhibition match by defeating the Argentine 7-5 6-1. Though he lost, it is nice to see Zabaleta. Of late, he has been playing on the challengers series, so we do not see much of him at the main tournaments.

In 1995, Zabaleta ended the year as the top junior. The Argentine had a hard time transitioning to the seniors tour from the juniors tour. He would eventually do well enough on tour and was consistently ranked in the top 100 from 1998 to 2006, with his highest ranking being 21 in 2000.

Zabaleta suffered from a foot injury in 2005 and then suffered a knee injury in 2006. His career has never been the same, and he slid out of the top 100. Today the 31 year old is currently ranked 440.

Though his professional tennis career has suffered, he created the most flawless show ever. Zabaleta started the show Tenis Pro in 2004 where he and Juan Ignacio Chela, armed with a video camera, interview players on the ATP tour. The Tennis Channel could certainly spruce up its programming by airing re-runs of this truly fantastic show.

You can see clips here, here, here and here, but I leave you this little gem: