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Nikolay Davydenko Back to Backline
Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko and Igor Andreev battled into the fourth round of the U.S. Open tennis tournament. Davydenko saw off compatriot Dmitry Tursunov and Andreev prevailed over Fernando Verdasco of Spain, whom he had never defeated in official matches. In the women’s section, Elena Dementieva easily brushed aside China’s Li Na to march to the quarterfinals, and Dinara Safina has a solid chance to progress there as well.
Expecting even the relative success from Nikolay Davydenko at the U.S. Open would have been too optimistic. The Russian acknowledged during the Beijing Olympics that he was unable to find incentives to play with the previous commitment. But it looks like Davydenko has spiritually recovered in the course of the tournament.
The crowd saw previous Davydenko in the match vs Dmitry Tursunov. His lingering but very secure manner of playing in the backline often suffices to exhaust any opponent. “The main thing was to control the backline,” Davydenko said after the match. “When I succeed in it, the matches usually develop in my favor.”
The good news was Igor Andreev’s triumph over Fernando Verdasco. The Russian had lost all three previous matches vs. the Spaniard. But Andreev’s service was powerful during the U.S. Open clash with Verdasco, who was additionally overwhelmed by unforced errors.
Davydenko will play Gilles Muller of Luxembourg, while Andreev’s opponent is Roger Federer of Switzerland.
In the lady’s section, Olympic champion Elena Dementieva needed 61 minutes to crash Li Na of China (6-4 6-1) and progress to the quarterfinals. The beautiful Russian next plays Patty Schnyder.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Sep. 02, 2008
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