Davydenko Holds Off Spanish Charge

Nikolay Davydenko has been the best player on tour from the since the indoor season. Since last year’s US Open until now, the Russian has won four tournaments. Added to that, the world no. 6 has not dropped a set for the first-three rounds of the tournament.

Davydenko had the unfortunate task of drawing Fernando Verdasco in the fourth round. The Spaniard does not have the consistency of the Russian, but he seems to save his best play for Australia.

The sixth seed was able to get the best of Verdasco in the first-two sets. The Spaniard had his back against the wall and came out swinging in the third set. Verdasco was then able to win the next two sets. In the final set, both players stayed on serve until the sixth game where Davydenko broke for the final time to effectively close the door on the match. He won 6-2 7-5 4-6 6-7(5) 6-3 after 3 hours and 57 minutes of play.

Now, he is faced with the monumental task of playing Roger Federer in the quarterfinals. Federer, who crushed the Aussie dreams of a Lleyton Hewitt resurgence, beat the 22-seed 6-2 6-3 6-4 after just 1 hour and 55 minutes of play. Davydenko has effectively been on the court two hours longer than the top seed. On top of that, Federer leads their head-to-head 12-2 with Davydenko winning their last-two meetings.

Monday’s Matches

Singles Round of 16

1 Roger Federer (SUI) def. 22 Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) 6-2 6-3 6-4

3 Novak Djokovic (SRB) def. Lukasz Kubot (POL) 6-1 6-2 7-5

6 Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) def. 9 Fernando Verdasco (ESP) 6-2 7-5 4-6 6-7(5) 6-3

10 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) def. 26 Nicolas Almagro (ESP) 6-3 6-4 4-6 6-7(6) 9-7



Doubles Quarterfinals

3 L. Dlouhy (CZE)/L. Paes (IND) def. J. Isner (USA)/S, Querrey (USA) 6-3 7-5

F. Gonzalez (CHI)/I. Ljubicic (CRO) def. 11 S. Aspelin (SWE)/C. Kas (GER) 6-4 6-3

M. Kohlmann (GER)/J. Nieminen (FIN) def. Simone Bolelli (ITA)/A. Seppi (ITA) 4-6 7-6(3) 7-6(6)

Tuesday’s Order of Play

Tuesday's Matches
Singles Quarterfinals
2 Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs. 5 Andy Murray (GBR)
7 Andy Roddick (USA) vs. 14 Marin Cilic (CRO)

Doubles Third Round
5 L. Kubot (POL)/O. Marach (AUT) vs. I. Karlovic (CRO)/D. Vemic(SRB)

Doubles Quarterfinals
1 B. Bryan (USA)/M. Bryan (USA) vs. E. Butorac (USA)/R. Ram (USA)
M. Kohlmann (GER)/J. Nieminen (FIN) vs. F. Gonzalez (CHI)/I. Ljubicic

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(Image: AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)