In an easy 6-2, 6-2 victory, top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko eliminated Daniel Gimeno-Traver at the 2009 Croatia Open.  Davydenko will advance to the second-round of the event where he will play Alberto Martin who defeated Martin Klizan 6-4, 6-4.

Davydenko commented on the fact that the weather was difficult to play in:  “When I started to run, I felt I had no power.  (I hit) a couple of winners which helped me, but it was tough. I would like to play a night session in the second round.”
I can’t even imagine having to work so hard on those really hot days.  I …read more

Well, yesterday I chose David Nalbandian to pick on and today, that torch has been passed to Nikolay Davydenko. The fourth-seeded player was booted by Benjamin Becker in the first round in three sets, all to the tune of 6-4. With that lackluster performance, Davydenko gets the Slacker of the Day award.
Venus Williams made the first step in defending her title (I’d forgotten she won last year. Which may not be surprising considering the number of Wimblys she’s won and her somewhat streaky nature.), and squeaked out a close first set against British hopeful Naomi Cavaday at 7-6 before dominating …read more

The name of the game at the French Open this morning was lengthy, draining five-set matches for Gael Monfils and Ivan Ljubicic. I watched a bit of it on the tellie, but the scores themselves provide proof for how back-and-forth these two amazing matches were.
Monfils and Jurgen Melzer traded sets with Melzer winning the first and third with scores of 6-4 in each set, but Monfils won the second set 7-5 and then blanked Melzer in the fourth set before finishing him off with a 6-2 fifth set.
Fourth-ranked Nikolay Davydenko won the first two sets off Ljubicic 6-4, 6-2, but …read more

Over the past four years, Roger Federer winning a title that wasn’t a grand slam wouldn’t be headline news. Heck, even Federer winning grand slams became so routine that it was just another blip in the sports section.
However, Federer won his first title of 2008 at the Estoril Open after Nikolay Davydenko retired with a leg injury. Federer had won the first set 7-6 and the second set was at 1-2 when Davydenko cried uncle. Even though the title came by such a default move, I can’t imagine Federer is going to be too upset about it. It’s a title …read more

Well, I wasn’t really expecting it, but Nikolay Davydenko steam-rolled Rafael Nadal in the final of the Sony Ericsson Open 6-4, 6-2.
Actually, it was a clinic on Davydenko’s part. Nadal didn’t ever really get his feet under him, and he didn’t know what to do with Davydenko’s cross-court winners. They had a wicked slice and a lot of speed. I wouldn’t have known what to do either.
I always pull for Rafa, but he didn’t act like he cared a whole lot out there today. I think he’s ready for the clay court season, and that’s what he wants to focus …read more

Beating Roger Federer doesn’t do much good if you can’t follow it up with another victory. Andy Roddick squandered his breakthrough victory over Federer by losing to Nikolay Davydenko in straight sets at the Sony Ericsson Open. I guess that’s what happens when you’re still reeling from an emotional victory 24 hours earlier.
Davydenko had fallen in the last five meetings with Roddick, but he gave Roddick a dose of his own medicine and advanced to the final where Rafael Nadal awaits.
Remember when every tournament Roger played in there was only one spot in the final to fight for because the …read more

That’s pretty much the case and although a lot of people have climbed on the bandwagon of calling Nikolay Davydenko guilty for the betting allegations, the Russian’s lawyer told BBC Sport that Davydenko would be cleared of all the charges immediately.
I don’t know if you can trust a lawyer – I would seriously advise against it – but in this case, we’ll pretend like what Frank Immenga said is true.
So what’s the next step for Davydenko? Now that he is supposedly going to be free of all the baggage that comes with accusations of being a criminal, will it affect …read more

Nikolay Davydenko is under fire again from the ATP as the organization is after Davydenko’s wife’s and brother’s phone records for another round of investigations into the suspicious betting activities surrounding one of Davydenko’s tennis matches several months ago.
Anyway, that long explanation shortens a very long article about the debacle on whether the ATP has jurisdiction over third party records, so on and so forth.
The point? Just don’t bet. Throw your money into some investment or something.

Remember being told - “Think before you speak.” – when you were growing up?  Maybe my folks were just old-school, but I heard it. Maybe Andy Murray did not.
His words and proclamation that corruption was commonplace in tennis have done nothing but bring on more questions for Murray and his knowledge about corruption.
Nikolay Davydenko, who pulled out of the Madrid Masters because of an elbow injury, flung an accusation Murray’s way. Davydenko stated, “I think it’s a guy trying to be more famous than he is on the tour.” So says the guy ranked fourth in the world and safely secure in …read more

It’s back to the scoreboard tonight. I’ve strayed from my commentation on tournaments to talk about other things but the beaten path is beaten for a reason and I’m back on it.
Nikolay Davydenko won his second straight Kremlin Cup title in a 7-5, 7-6 (9) win over Paul-Henri Mathieu on Sunday. Davydenko was the top seed at the tournament and it was his first title of the season.
The bigger story, however, was Elena Dementieva’s comeback win over Serena Williams. Dementieva pulled off the 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 upset win over the fourth-seeded Williams. Dementieva was playing in front of a home …read more