Russia’s Igor Andreev (photo) did not have any difficulties in the match against Germany’s Tommy Haas, and won in three sets.
Photo: Alexey Kudenko
| Other Photos |
 |
|
 |
First Number Does Not Pass
// Neither in Russia’s team, nor in Germany’s team
The first day of the Davis Cup semifinal match between the national teams of Russia and Germany ended with 1:1 score. Russia's Igor Andreev outplayed the German team’s leader Tommy Haas quite easily, while Russia’s number one player Nikolai Davydenko suddenly gave in to Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Russia’s Igor Andreev defeated Germany’s Tommy Haas in the Davis Cup semifinal’s singles in Moscow on Friday. “I don’t like playing on clay at all,” the German confessed after the match. Meanwhile, Andreev is one of the world’s strongest clay specialists. Moreover, the Russian did not wait for his opponent to make a mistake; he attacked. Andreev’s aggressiveness in all three sets allowed him to make breaks early, after which he just had to keep his lead. No wonder the match lasted just 2 hours.
Russia’s Nikolai Davydenko and Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber were the second to come out onto the court. World number four Davydenko, also good on clay, was expected to defeat Kohlschreiber, ranked 32nd. However, Davydenko only won the first set, and then he began growing exhausted. After the match, his brother Eduard Davydenko said that Nikolai was unwell: “He suffered food poisoning yesterday, and fever today in the morning. He had to take too much pills – against pain, stomach ache, and fever.”
Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny and Dmitry Tursunov and Germany’s Alexander Waske and Philipp Petzschner were picked for the doubles on Saturday. However, the captains have the right to change the appointed players.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Sep. 22, 2007
|
|
|
