Davydenko Limbered Up by Victory
The recent week wasn't bad for Russia's tennis. Nikolay Davydenko triumphed in Austrian Poertschach. Russia’s team reached final at the World Cup in Dusseldorf and Elena Dementieva advanced to the Istanbul final. Unfortunately, the Russians yielded in the last two cases.
The players prefer not to risk before the competitions similar to Roland Garros, which began yesterday, but playing as frequent as possible has been always the habit of Nikolay Davydenko. The Russian has taken part in 43 matches this season, yielding only to Rafael Nadal in number (44), while Roger Federer has had just 33.
Although the ATP tennis tournament in Poertschach, Asutria, hadn’t lured lots of stars – its prize fund is only €370,000 – Davydenko encountered difficulties in nearly all matches. The tension eased in the semifinal, when Nikolay opposed his compatriot Igor Kunitsyn, but he faced defending champion Juan Monaco of Argentina in the final May 24, 2008 and the score was of mirror type in the end (6-2, 2-6 and 6-2).
Davydenko entirely controlled the game in the first set, provoking his opponent to make errors one after another. But the pain in his left thigh hit the Russian in the second set, forcing him to seek medical assistance, which fortunately helped. As a result, Nikolay failed to save the second set but prevailed in the decider.
As to the injury, it isn’t particularly serious, Davydenko said, hoping it won’t affect his performance at Roland Garros. Winning tournaments before the key competitions of the season builds up self-confidence, he pointed out.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of May 26, 2008
|
