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Sports / Tennis
Casual Davydenko falls at China Open second round
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-09-14 10:06
Top seed Nikolay Davydenko was never into his game at the China Open on
Thursday as he was knocked out by unseeded Croat Marin Cilic in the
second round.
Nikolay Davydenko from Russia reacts after losing to unseeded Marin Cilic
from Croatia in the second round game at the China Open in Beijing
September 13, 2007. [Xinhua]?
In the rain-delayed match, the Russian world number four looked
abstracted before slumping to a 6-3, 6-4 loss in just one hour 14 minutes
and handing in the Croat his first top 10 victory in career.
"It is the first time to play him, he plays like everybody plays, and I
don't see anything great from him," said an easy-going Davedenko after
the embarrassing loss. "It was just bad luck, I play not well. I try to
hit the ball correctly but it was tough to do that with no mistakes."
"The weather was not the problem either," added he.
On a cold damp afternoon, Davydenko was just unable to find the rhythm in
the opening set, dropping his first serve in a sloppy fashion before a
loose 6-3 defeat after only 29 minutes.
A quarterfinalist here last year, Davydenko seemed to return from the
slow start to storm to a 3-0 lead in the second set.
While Cilic, eight years his junior and now 117th ranked in the world,
looked much more hungrier for victory and used two more breaks to reel
off the next five games in a row.
After Davydenko held serve in the next game, Cilic served out for the
match without a hitch.
"I sleep good, and after eleven hours I was fresh. I felt great after the
long trip (from America)," Davydenko said. "The match is complicated, I
try to win but lost at last."
Despite the loss, Davydenko has been extremely consistent, reaching the
quarterfinals or better 10 times this season, most impressively making
semifinal runs at two of this year's Grand Slams at Roland Garros and the
U.S. Open, both falling to World No. 1 Roger Federer.
Davydenko said that he enjoyed his tour in Beijing and will rest himself
here for two more days for some sightseeing with his family and being
mentally ready for the next tournament.
"It is nice to stay in Beijing and I am happy that my family are
travelling with me so I don't have to go back to Russia."
"I have four more tournaments to play this season and I don't want to
lose my confidence."
However, the Russian might have to put aside some of his attention on the
so-called betting scandal stretching to last month when he retired from a
match against nobody Argentine Martin Vassalo Arguello in the Poland
Open, which triggered an ATP investigation towards him.
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