David Nalbandian made history here on Saturday when he became the first Argentine man to reach the Wimbledon final with a 7-6, 6-4, 1-6, 2-6, 6-2 semifinal triumph against Belgium's Xavier Malisse.

The 28th seeded Nalbandian, playing in his first ever grass-court event, has also set a record by becoming the first man to reach the final on his debut. The 20-year-old's reward is a final clash with world number one and top seed Lleyton Hewitt of Australia who had eased past Britain's Tim Henman in his semifinal 7-5, 6-1, 7-5.

On Friday, Malisse had suffered anxiety-related heart palpitations early in the match but rallied from two-sets down to keep his hopes alive of being the first Belgian man in a Grand Slam final.

After play had been suspended because of bad light, the semifinal had effectively become a one-set shoot-out on Saturday and it was Malisse who showed first breaking to lead 2-1 before playing a weak service game to love as Nalbandian hit back to level 2-2 and then held to lead 3-2.

But from then on, it was all straightforward for Nalbandian against a lethargic Malisse as he broke twice again to take the final set 6-2 and the match.

For many, the result proved to be a fitting end to a semifinal which had been dogged by controversy when it began on Friday as the pony-tailed 21-year-old Malisse had twice needed treatment for an anxiety

attack.

First, he needed courtside treatment during the first set and then disappeared into the locker room at the end of that set which he lost on a tie-break.

He called his doctor in Belgium, returned after 10 minutes away and then slipped to 4-2 down in the second set when the rains arrived allowing the player to recover.

"It was stress and my heart was beating very quickly," said Malisse who knocked out fifth seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Britain's Greg Rusedski and 1996 champion Richard Krajicek to reach the last four. "I got lucky with the rain break. My heart calmed down and I felt fine. I just got a little bit tense."

Nalbandian was clearly angry about Malisse's extended absence after he had gained control of the match by winning the first set.

The rules at a Grand Slam event state that treatment is only allowed for three minutes -- but those three minutes do not start until after the assessment is complete.

Malisse was treated for palpitations 18 months ago but doctors could find nothing physically wrong with him.

"Malisse was breathless, dizzy and generally unwell," said tournament doctor Peter Tudor-Miles.