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Sports / Tennis
Davydenko dumped out of China Open
(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-09-13 20:00
World number four and top seed Nikolay Davydenko was bounced out of the
second round of the China Open by Croatian teenager Marin Cilic on
Thursday, losing 6-3 6-4 in the first upset of the tournament.
Less than a week after his US Open semi-final defeat to Roger Federer,
the normally indefatigable Russian looked out of sorts in his first
encounter with the latest in a line of tall, big-serving Croatians to hit
the ATP circuit.
After a three-hour delay for rain, it was perhaps unsurprising that the
first set was a shabby affair with Cilic's break of Davydenko's first
service game enough to go one up as the Russian littered his game with
loose shots.
"I don't think it was because of the rain but I didn't play very well,"
said the 26-year-old. "I felt very well, I slept for 11 hours and I was
fresh ... today I just found it tough to hit the ball."
Davydenko, yet to win a tournament this year after claiming five in 2006,
struck back to race to a 3-0 lead in the second set but Cilic also raised
his game and gradually started to get the better of some fine rallies.
The 18-year-old won the next five games to turn the match around and,
despite needing treatment on his finger before serving for the match,
grabbed his first victory over a top 10 player when Davydenko netted on
the first match point.
Davydenko will now head back to Russia for next week's Davis Cup
semi-final against Germany before his date with the investigators into
betting irregularities surrounding a match he played in Poland at the
start of last month.
"I'd have liked to have stayed here longer to prepare mentally for the
Davis Cup," Davydenko, who was playing his 26th tournament of the year,
added.
In the quarter-finals, Cilic will face wildcard Nicolas Kiefer, who
continued on the comeback trail after a year sidelined by a wrist injury
with an upset of sorts against seventh seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
German Kiefer, whose best career ranking of fourth in the world is 56
spots higher than his French opponent's current placing, served up five
aces on his way to a 6-3 6-4 win.
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