Russia's Nikolay Davydenko plays against Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic at the Davis Cup quarter-final match in Moscow Luzhniki Stadium April 13, 2008.
Photo: Alexey Kudenko
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Davydenko Led Russia to Davis Cup Semi
Russia progressed to the Davis Cup semi-final yesterday after Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic rolled his ankle in the match against Nikolay Davydenko and was forced to retire from the battle.
Although not the way we all would have liked to have it, Russia will pay in the semi-final. And the team has earned the victory. The beginning was the thrilling battle of Marat Safin against Tomas Berdych (67(5) 46 63 62 64) in the opening singles, which proved anew the tactical genius of the team’s captain Shamil Tarpischev. Tarpischev picked out Safin, who had won just a single match in the season, to oppose the world No. 9, who had reached the Miami Masters semifinals.
But Igor Andreev lost to Radek Stepanek in the second nightmarish match that day and the score was leveled.
Regardless, the chance was slim that the Czech Republic would win two matches Sunday, so the doubles were vital. Both captains made their changes and Tarpischev staked on teaming Igor Andreev, who was in the combatant spirit after the Friday loss, and Nikolay Davydenko. Their opponents were Radek Stepanek and Pavel Vizner.
Andreev and Davydenko are the single players, so the difference in class became evident only starting from the second set and the final score was 36 63 75 64.
On the final day, Tarpischev commissioned Davydenko to replace Andreev vs. Berdych. Nikolay had never lost to the Czech in their previous meetings. Backed up by the crowd, Davydenko made a good start and took the first set. But he was tied after the doubles and Miami, allowing Berdych to pressurize and attack.
Having lost two sets in a row, Davydenko didn’t miss his chance in the fourth one and it was 50/50 in the decider, when injury gave advantage to the Russians for the second Davis Cup tie.
Lukas Dlouhy defeated Marat Safin in the final rubber to narrow the gap to 2-3. But that battle was of little importance, as the Russians progressed to the semi-final already, having won the 16th home tie running. The team will go to Argentina in the next effort.
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All the Article in Russian as of Apr. 14, 2008
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