Davydenko seeks Hamburg title defence as Monfils withdraws
Twelve months ago, Nikolay Davydenko won his first title of the year at the clay court German Open in Hamburg, but with the Russian yet to find form in his return from a wrist injury, is a title defence out of the question?
Last year’s victory in over Paul-Henri Mathieu in the Hamburg final marked the beginning of an impressive run that culminated in five titles for the year, including at the ATP World Tour Finals in London.
It was a result that propelled this relatively low-profile player into the spotlight ahead of the likes of Roger Federer (who Davydenko defeated in the semi-finals) and Rafael Nadal (who lost his round-robin match to the eventual champion) and when Davydenko backed that performance up with victory over Nadal in the Doha final ahead of the Australian Open, he was widely regarded as the most in-form player on the ATP Tour.
A genuine threat, perhaps, to the established order in the year’s first Grand Slam, if only he could deliver the same level of tennis in the best of five sets demanded of men at the majors. Davydenko ultimately fell to Federer in a four-set quarter-final at Melbourne Park, and the Swiss went on to win his 16th Grand Slam title.
Davydenko bounced back from that to reach the semis in Rotterdam in early February, but the wrist injury he sustained in a fall he took in his loss to Robin Soderling was to derail his season after a promising start. The 29-year-old played on for two more tournaments, losing his second match on both occasions, before scans revealed he’d broken his left wrist; the injury ensuring Davydenko missed the entire clay court season.
Since his return at Halle in the lead up to Wimbledon, the world No. 6 has, understandably, struggled to recapture his early season form, recording just three wins and four losses in four outings, including Russia’s Davis Cup quarter-final loss to Argentina.
Which brings us back to Hamburg 2010, where the likes of clay-court specialists David Ferrer and Juan Carlos Ferrero as well as Roland Garros semi-finalist Jurgen Melzer are among those standing in the way of Davydenko’s title defence.
One player Davydenko won’t have to face, however, is fourth seed Gael Monfils, who has withdrawn from the tournament with an ankle injury sustained in the weekend’s final in Bastad (won by Albert Montanes by default after the Frenchman retired from the match due to the same injury).
Second-round losses to players ranked 52nd, 98th and 88th in the world in the three tournaments (excluding the Davis Cup) Davydenko has played since returning from injury, however, indicate it might not take a player of the calibre of the crowd-pleasing Monfils, or indeed any of Hamburg’s other seeds, to end the world No. 6’s title defence chances if he continues in his current form.
Should Davydenko turn things around in Germany though, there are plenty who may just cast a wary eye back to this time last year, and the success that followed that result.
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