Aljaz Bedene upsets Nikolay Davydenko to reach round two – Power Horse Cup 2013
Slovenian lucky loser, Aljaz Bedene, outclassed the former world number three, Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, in a three-set thriller at the Power Horse Cup 2013 on Tuesday. He summed up a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory against the Russian
veteran to power into the second round at this ATP World Tour 250 series event taking place in Dusseldorf, Germany.
The Slovene stunned the eighth seed despite making a slow start at the Rochusclub. He stated in a courtside interview after stealing the spotlight, "The beginning was not the best for me. I went down a break early, I didn't expect
it, but Nikolay was playing better. In the middle of the second set, I started to feel the ball better. At the end, I think I was the better player."
The Russian seed made a thunderous start, as he drew the first blood in the second game and leaped to a 3-0 lead. The world number 46 then slid his entire serves with conviction and eventually sealed the opener with a 6-3 win.
Bedene failed to find his rhythm in the beginning of the proceeding set. He gifted away his serve in the third game and trailed at 1-2. The Slovene recovered in the very next game but lost his serve again, eventually going 2-3
down. However, Bedene not only snatched his break back in the sixth game but got the breakthrough in the last game, eventually grabbing the equaliser by winning six games to four.
Ranked 84th in the Emirates Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Bedene broke his rival’s opening serve and jumped to a 3-0 lead. He then fired angled shots and eventually clinched the decider with a 6-3 score line.
Overall, the in-form Slovene clobbered a lower first serve share of 67 per cent as compared to the seed’s 81 per cent. However, he superbly marked 46 out of 67 points on it and fired 11 aces to prevail. Furthermore, the Slovene
spilled fewer errors and ended the match with 96 points.
The high flying Slovene will square off against the local wild card entrant, Tobias Kamke, who dumped his compatriot Benjamin Becker in straight sets to set up this epic clash.
The Serbian challenger, Viktor Troicki, will accompany Bedene in the proceeding round. He made a dismal start and gifted away the opener to United States' Michael Russell. However, Troicki lifted his game afterwards and eventually
sealed the deal with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 score line.
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