The Russian blasted tournament referee Wayne McKewen for making him play on what he considered was a wet surface following a rain interruption, against Andy Roddick.
Marat Safin survived another tense match to beat Israel's Dudi Sela 6-3, 5-7, 4-6, 7-6, 6-0 in the second round.
Ivo Karlovic has a winning serve but his lack of movement on court proves his undoing.
The world number one believes he is pulling away from his rivals in men's tennis.
He said that experience had taught him how to handle "an incredibly good baseliner" like Nalbandian.
While several top seeds will have their say, a look at some emerging players who could be serious contenders.
They head the line-up for the select eight-man field at the Jan. 10-13 event.
World No 1 Roger Federer book his place in the semi-finals of the Madrid Masters with a clinical win over unseeded American Robby Ginepri.
Fifth seed Gonzalez next faces Andy Roddick atthe Vienna Open.
The two players were named as the top seeds for the men's and women's singles event at the Australian Open which starts on Monday.
Australia's Lleyton Hewitt dispatched Argentine Gaston Gaudio 6-2, 6-1 to clinch his place in the Masters Cup semi-finals.
The World number was pitted against Spaniard Albert Costa in Wednesday's draw.
Rafael Nadal extended his winning streak on clay to 51 matches by cruising past Chile's Fernando Gonzalez at the Rome Masters.
The 19-year-old will equal Guillermo Vilas's 1977 record of 53 consecutive wins on clay if he retains the Rome Masters title this week.
The Thai was pushed to a first-set tiebreaker before cruising past the Frenchman in the second round of the RCA Championships.
Wimbledon champion Roger Federer took just 46 minutes to beat Tomas Behrend 6-1, 6-1 in the first round of the Swiss Open on Tuesday.
Hingis said Federer now had to make sure he stayed focused on his training and is prepared to "say no".
Roger Federer will require a superhuman effort to hold on to his crown as he faces a devilishly difficult draw.
Andy Roddick ran out of firepower and was dumped by David Ferrer at the Nasdaq-100 Open.
The two will clash for the third time this year at the Indian Wells semi-final
Lleyton Hewitt breezed into the last four of the Tennis Channel Open with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Philip Kohlschrieber
The defending champion was beaten by wildcard compatriot Alex Correjta in 69 minutes in the Monte Carlo Masters.
The world number one admitted he is concerned about finding out something about his first round opponent, Uzbek Denis Istomin.
World number one Rafael Nadal humbled Andy Roddick with a clay-court master class on Sunday to knock holders the United States out of the Davis Cup and send Spain through to their sixth final.
The top seed edged a 7-6, 7-5 victory over American James Blake in the first round of the Cincinnati Masters.\n
The top seed beat Mariano Puerta in 72 minutes to set up a semi-final with France's Paul-Henri Mathieu in the Montreal Masters.
Taylor Dent and Robby Ginepri will contest the first all-American final in Indianapolis since Pete Sampras beat Jim Courier 13 years ago.\n
Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra kept France alive in their Davis Cup quarter-final against the United States on Saturday with an impressive 6-7, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 win over Bob and Mike Bryan. The Americans will go into Sunday's reverse singles with a 2-1 lead but will be disappointed their top-ranked doubles duo did not close out the tie on day two of the tie.
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