ATP Number 22: Nikolay Davydenko in 2010
Nikolay Davydenko is a professional tennis player from Russia, currently ranked World No. 22 in the ATP rankings. His best result in any Grand Slam event in his career has been a semifinal appearance, which he has made four times,
twice at the Roland Garros arena and once at Flushing Meadows. He achieved a career-high ranking of World No. 3 in 2006, and was a finalist at the 2008 Tennis Masters Cup. He outdid his performance with a victory at the 2009 ATP World Tour Finals. He is one
of the few players in the Association of Tennis Professionals to maintain a winning record against current World No. 1 Rafael Nadal.
His best performance in 2010 was undoubtedly at the beginning of the year. Still riding the high achieved by his ATP World Tour Finals win, he opened the year with spectacular wins, winning nine matches in a row, even amassing
back to back wins against Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in the same tournament at Doha. He managed to take away the title of the event. With this victory, he also joined David Nalbandian as one of the only two men to defeat both the Maestro and Rafa in the
same tournament twice.
However, his 2010 run was not successful for much longer. He was sidelined after breaking his left wrist at the Indian Wells tournament, and was forced to stay out of the game for 11 weeks. Upon his return, he struggled with both
confidence and form with his performances quickly deteriorating, and his 12-2 winning start became an 18-17 conclusion. After the 2010 US Open, he lost matches to World No. 71 Pablo Cuevas, No.102 Igor Andreev and No. 118 Mischa Zyerev. When in form, Davydenko
has no trouble besting these players.
In review, 2010 was not one of Davydenko’s better showings. His injured wrist and the subsequent break limited his playing to 49 contests, this is his lowest total since 2002. He was also forced to drop out of the clay events,
and could not regain the level which he began the year with. A straight sets fall to Richard Gasquet at the US Open made Davydenko admit that he had lost track of his shots, and felt that it was time for a change. This included a change of racquet from a Prince
to a Dunlop Biomimetic 200 Plus .
When in form, Davydenko is a glorious player. Although, so lean that the ball boys often outweigh him, Davydenko’s quickness and acuity on the court is above par. His most memorable match this year was his defeat of Nadal at Doha,
where his flat shots and serve enabled him to overcome the weight imbalance between the two players.
Nikolay Davydenko’s biggest setback at the moment could be his age, he is 29 at the moment and the increasing desire to have children. However his strengths remain well in place, his solid ground strokes giving him a considerable
advantage. He is able to play from the court’s center, and to challenge the heaviest hitters around, he has defeated Nadal five times in their last six hard-court matches. If Davydenko is able to maintain his health, and to adjust to the new tennis racquet
he has shifted over to, a return to the Top 10 players is quite possible.
Tags: