In the Australian Open, Nalbandian had a five-set loss to Isner and was fined $8,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct following the match. On February, David participated in two Davis Cup matches for Argentina against the German team, defeating Florian Mayer in a singles match and then partnering with Eduardo Schwank to win a doubles match against Tommy Haas and Philipp Petzschner to help the Argentinian team advance to the quarterfinals. Afterward, Nalbandian played a string of clay tournaments, reaching the quarterfinals in the Brasil Open, semifinals in Buenos Aires and a first-round exit at the Mexican Open. He then entered the first ATP Masters 1000 tournament of the year, the 2012 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, losing in the quarterfinals to Rafael Nadal. After the tournament, Nalbandian reached No. 40 in the ATP Rankings but failed to progress past the first round in the 2012 French Open as he was beaten by the Romanian, Adrian Ungur in four sets.