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| Birth Name(s) : Nikolay Davydenko |
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Full Nikolay Davydenko Biography
Nikolay Vladimirovich Davydenko (Russian: Николай 'ладимирович Давыденко; born June 2, 1981 in Severodonetsk, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union) is currently the top ranked Russian male tennis player, fourth in the world, and the winner of eleven ATP singles titles.
Davydenko's best result in a Grand Slam tournament has been reaching the semi-finals, which he did at the 2005 French Open, 2006 US Open, 2007 French Open and the 2007 US Open.
Davydenko started playing at age 7 with his brother, Eduard who also turned professional as well. During his junior tennis years, he moved to Salmtal, Germany with his brother to further develop his tennis abilities and to play in more tournaments.
Davydenko turned professional in 1999. In 2000, he played mainly on the Futures Tour where he captured one title and reached three finals. He made his ATP debut at Amsterdam, reaching the semi-final. Later in August, he won his first Challenger title in Monchengladbach.
His progress continued in 2004, capturing two more titles for the second consecutive year. After a slow start to season, a quarter final in the Monte Carlo Masters kicked off a 10-2 matches run. A week later he won in Munich for his third title. Backed up his win by reaching the semi-final in Stuttgart losing to Guillermo Cañas. In October, he captured his first home soil victory in Moscow by winning both the singles and doubles (partnering Igor Andreev). Finished the season in the top 30 for the first time.
After his rapid rise into the top 5 in 2005, Davydenko continued to stay in the top 5 for 2006. Repeated his quarter-final appearance at the Australian Open, losing to Roger Federer in 4 tight sets, 4-6 6-3 6-7(7) 6-7(5). He had another solid clay court season, reaching the final in Estoril and quarter final at the TMS Hamburg. Defended his title in Pöertschach and reached the quarter-final at the French Open for the second year. His form continued after an early loss at Wimbledon with wins in Sopot and his first American soil win in New Haven. After the win on the hardcourt season, he reached his second Grand Slam semi-final at the U.S. Open, losing to Roger Federer. Finished the season with a win in Moscow and his first career TMS title in Paris. After getting married, Davydenko helped Russia win the Davis Cup against Argentina. Reached a career high ranking of No. 3 which he finished on for the year.
2007 started with another quarter-final appearance at the Australian Open for the third consecutive year. He was slow to find his form on clay court season; but found his form at the Rome Masters, losing in the semi-final to the "King of Clay", Rafael Nadal in an enthralling match 6-7, 7-6, 4-6. His good form continued, and he reached semi-final for the second time at the French Open, losing to Roger Federer again 5-7, 6-7, 6-7. At Wimbledon, he surprised the tennis world by reaching the 4th round on his least preferred surface. Moving to the hard court season in the US, Davydenko had strong showings in Canada Masters and Cincinnati Masters, reaching the quarter-final and semi-final respectively. After a good hard court preparation, Davydenko reached the semi-final of the U.S. Open for the second consecutive year before losing to Roger Federer 5-7, 1-6, 5-7.
Davydenko's main weaknesses are his inability to close matches, volleys and variation. He has lost numerous important matches after taking a lead. This was evident during the 2006 Tennis Masters Cup against James Blake and Rafael Nadal where he won the first sets and had leads in the second but lost. Again, his inability to close matches against top players out was shown against Federer at the Australian Open in 2006 and the French Open in 2007. In the Australian Open, he had three set points in the second to go up 2 sets to love, but lost the set and eventually the match. In the French Open, he had leads in all three sets but ended up losing each one. Davydenko is not the best volleyer on tour and does not usually go into the net because of his solid baseline game. He also lacks variation in his game which is noticed by many tennis critics. This is due to the fact that Davydenko plays his groundstrokes from the baseline in every match.
Davydenko's favourite players growing up were Ivan Lendl and Yannick Noah. During his spare time he enjoys cycling, fishing, soccer, and hockey. He is also a Guns N' Roses fan. He speaks Russian, German and English.
The ATP is currently investigating Davydenko's match against Martin Vassallo Arguello in Sopot after several large bets were placed at an online British gambling company, Betfair, in Arguello's favor. Davydenko withdrew from the match during the third set with a foot injury after he won the first set 6-2. Although Davydenko had suffered a couple of first-round defeats in previous weeks, it did not make sense to Betfair that such a heavy betting volume would go in Arguello’s direction when Arguello was losing the match. Per its agreement with the ATP, Betfair notified the Tour. |
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