Nikolay davydenko

[Annie]

Through to the third round in Cincinnati having beaten Ginepri in three sets

Plays Tomas Berdych today for a place in the quarterfinals ;D

DAVAI KOLYA!!!!!!!!!!

[Annie]

Beat Berdych in 1 hour and 10 minutes 6/3 6/2 ;D

Will meet Ferrer in quarterfinals

DAVAI KOLYA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Annie]

Defeated David Ferrer in the quarterfinals of Cincinnati Masters 6/4 6/2 to set up a meeting with James Blake in the semis ;D

Good luck Kolya!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jenhatter06]

New Haven: Nikolay was pushed to the end, but pulled through 7-5 in the 3rd against Donald Young (who garnered his first ATP win in the first round) .... will play Gilles Simon next (who should be tired after a 3-hr marathon today)

Go Nikolay!


ps -- it's double-up day because of a rained out day earlier in the week .... if Nikolay beats Simon (NB 1 pm on the grandstand), he will play the winner of Almagro/PHM second after 7 pm

[jenhatter06]

New Haven: loses 64 64 to Simon


First Round US Open: Jesse Levine (American Wildcard)

[Annie]

Good luck Kolya..semis points to defend

[Annie]

Easy first round win against Levine at the USO ;D ;D ;D

6/4 6/0 6/1

Up next: winner of Spadea/Kiefer

Udachi Kolya

[Mrs. Fabregas]

Good job, Kolya!!!!!!!! Davai for the next round

[Annie]

Another solid win for Kolya at the USO ;D

Defeated Kiefer 6/2 6/2 6/2 ;D

Third round opponent: Nicolas Almagro :<

You know what to do Kolechka. Davai!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Dina]

Pekin 2nd round: Cilic - Davydenko 6-3, 6-4
WTF is this now? Don't do this man, DC is about to start!

[Annie]

Davydenko Qualifies for Tennis Masters Cup

Shanghai, China – Nikolay Davydenko has clinched a berth at the Tennis Masters Cup and will be making his third straight appearance at the prestigious circuit finale, to be held at Shanghai’s Qi Zhong Stadium from November 11-18. The Russian, currently No. 4 in the ATP 2007 Race, joins Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic as singles players to have secured their places in the elite eight-man field with three weeks remaining in the regular ATP season.

Davydenko claimed his first title of 2007, also his 11th career ATP title, by successfully defending the Kremlin Cup on Sunday in Moscow. Though it marked his first appearance in an ATP final this season, the 26-year-old is on course to finish in the Top 5 for the third consecutive year after posting stellar results at Grand Slam and ATP Masters Series events. He opened his Grand Slam campaign by reaching the Australian Open quarterfinals, and followed with semifinal finishes at Roland Garros and the US Open. Davydenko also advanced to the semifinals at the ATP Masters Series events at Rome and Cincinnati and the quarterfinals in Canada.

“I’m really happy to qualify for the Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai for the third consecutive year,” said Davydenko. “It’s important for me to know that I’m one of the eight best tennis players in the world for the third year. This is very important for me and my career. I want to finish in the Top 5. I think that if I get lucky and play well, I can win this year.”

Davydenko reached the semifinals in his Tennis Masters Cup debut in 2005, falling to eventual champion David Nalbandian. Last year, he went 1-2 in round robin play.

He said: “I really love to play in China. The organization and the crowd at Shanghai are so good.”

The top seven players in the ATP 2007 Race and the top seven teams in the Stanford ATP Doubles Race following the BNP Paribas Masters qualify for the Tennis Masters Cup, with one spot reserved for Grand Slam champions finishing within the Top 20.

[Annie]

Davydenko Successfully Defends Moscow Title

Russian Nikolay Davydenko clinched his third Kremlin Cup title Sunday and was rewarded with the news that he had qualified for Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai.

The World No. 4 defeated former winner Paul-Henri Mathieu of France 7-5, 7-6(9) in two hours and 35 minutes to win his 11th career ATP trophy.

It was his first title since capturing his maiden ATP Masters Series shield at Paris in November 2006 (d. Hrbaty). He improves to 11-3 lifetime in ATP finals.

Davydenko broke the Mathieu serve twice in the fifth and 11th game of the first set, which lasted a little over one hour. Mathieu squandered two sets points.

The 26-year-old Davydenko wasted his first match point while serving at 5-4 in the second set – which featured six breaks of service.

Mathieu first squandered two set points on Davydenko's serve at 6-5 and he missed out on four set points in the tie-break at 6-4, 7-6 and 8-7. Davydenko finally converted his fifth match point for victory.

Davydenko won his first Moscow in 2004 (d. Rusedski) and against last year (d. Safin). He now has a 15-2 tournament record at the Olympic Stadium.

Mathieu has previously beaten Davydenko twice at ATP-level this season, at Sydney and in the Davis Cup quarterfinals.

The World No. 24 from Strasbourg, France, was appearing in his third ATP final of 2007, having won trophies at Casablanca (d. Montanes) and Gstaad (d. Seppi).

Mathieu won the 2002 Moscow crown (d. Schalken) and is 12-3 at the event.

He has a 9-31 lifetime record (4-6 this year) against Top 10 players in the South African Airways ATP Rankings.

WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID

Davydenko: "It feels great to win Moscow for the third time. "I had to close the match earlier. I had match points at 5-3 and 5-4. In the tie-break I just had much luck. This year it was my first final so I was very nervous. Maybe I wanted too much to win Moscow and it affected my game a little bit. In the second set I felt a pain in my elbow and I was very close from deciding to retire from the match. Surely, I would have retired in the beginning of the third set I if had lost the second."

Mathieu: "It was a really close match. Finals are always close. In the first set I had two set points at 5-4 15-40. If I had taken a one set lead the match could be different. In a match like this, one or two points make a big difference. I'm upset now because I had my chances but tomorrow when I wake up I will think: 'It was a good week’."

[Alya10]

This one surprised me!!
How do umpires and tournament directors know a player is not trying hard enough??
If they start to go down this path I see a lot of players being in line for fines of this sort...
And will it will depend on the subjectivity of the umpire/tournament director or will there be a rate of how many UE and DF one can make before being considerer as not trying hard enough? Weird

ATP Tour - Davydenko fined for "lack of effort"
Eurosport - Fri, 26 Oct 14:00:00 2007
World number four Nikolay Davydenko has been fined $2,000 for not trying hard enough during his shock defeat by Croatian qualifier Marin Cilic at the St Petersburg Open.


"Nikolay Davydenko was fined $2,000 for lack of best effort in his second-round match against Marin Cilic," the governing body for men's tennis, ATP, said in a statement.

The top seed played near-flawless tennis in the first set against the 102nd-ranked Cilic but then started making numerous errors and committed 10 double faults in the last two sets.

He was warned by Belgian umpire Jean-Philippe Dercq in the final set for not trying hard enough.

"I double-faulted to lose a game in the third set and he gave me a warning saying I was trying to lose on purpose," Davydenko said after the match.

"I was simply shocked to hear him say that. This is just outrageous. How does he know what I was trying to do? I was so upset with the whole thing I started crying."

The Russian is being investigated by the ATP after his first-round match against Argentine Martin Vassallo Arguello in Poland in August attracted irregular betting patterns.

Davydenko is scheduled to take part in next week's Paris Masters, where he is defending champion.

Eurosport

[davis]

I was in the stadium yesterday - and went for dinner during the third set Wow, I missed all the drama...

Davydenko fined for poor effort

World number four Nikolay Davydenko has been fined $2,000 (£976) for not trying hard enough during his defeat to Marin Cilic in the St Petersburg Open. The ATP said he had been guilty of "lack of best effort" against Cilic, ranked 102 in the world. The top seed breezed through the first set but then started making numerous errors and committed 10 double faults.

He is being investigated by the ATP over a match in August that featured irregular betting patterns. Online betting exchange Betfair voided bets on that match, in Poland, between Daydenko and the 87th-ranked Martin Vassallo Arguello. It finished when the Russian withdrew with a foot injury having easily won the first set.

But on Thursday night, Davydenko protested his innocence over the match in St Petersburg, which Cilic won 1-6 7-5 6-1. The Russian was warned by Belgian umpire Jean-Philippe Dercq in the final set for not trying hard enough. "I double-faulted to lose a game in the third set and he gave me a warning saying I was trying to lose on purpose," said Davydenko. "I was simply shocked to hear him say that. This is just outrageous. How does he know what I was trying to do? I was so upset with the whole thing I started crying."

Davydenko spoke to the tournament supervisor after the match. "The reality is that I started feeling tired. My legs were just dead by the third set. Maybe my problems are psychological, maybe it's in my head." The Russian admitted that during his on-court exchange with Dercq he did not mention his physical problems. "He could not solve my problem anyway, that why I first told him I was OK, but I didn't play the way I did in the first set, that's why he gave me a notice," he said.

BBC Radio 5 Live correspondent Jonathan Overend said it was difficult to prove if a player had deliberately lost a match. "Davydenko says his legs felt dead in the third set hence the turnaround and if that's the case then it's not surprising he lost the next two sets," he said. "How do you prove otherwise? That's the issue."

Davydenko's opponent on Thursday does not believe the Russian stopped trying. Cilic, 19, said: "It was very tough for me to compete with him in the first set. He was hitting winners from almost anywhere, making no mistakes, but then he lost his concentration a little bit. I don't think that he was not trying. Maybe he just lost his game plan and I took advantage of that."

Concerns over Davydenko's match against Vassallo Arguello in August prompted the ATP to launch a wider investigation into the matter.


I honestly believe that Marin Cilic played the biggest part in Davydenko's loss. In the first set I felt like I had to explain to the Croat how to play tennis - he was absolutely horrible! In set two he got his nerves together and all of a sudden started to put tremendous pressure on Kolya. He was simply the better player at that point of time and Kolya seemed to run out of gas. I'm not a big Davydenko-fan (well, that is putting it mildly) but the fining business is going way too far even for my taste.

BTW: St. Petersburg was fun! ;D

[luxsword]

"I double-faulted to lose a game in the third set (...)"
not a very sporty thing to do, if you ask me rather silly to say, too
i gotta confess, i'm rather sorta pleased to see marat's no more "the only tennis player ever fined for lack of effort" ;D thanks kolya