Nikolay Davydenko, Marcel Granollers advance to second round of Dubai Tennis Championships 2011
World number 39 Nikolay Davydenko proved too good for Guillermo Garcia-Lopez as he knocked him out in straight sets at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships 2011 on Tuesday.
The Russian thrashed the in-form Spanish 6-2, 6-0. It was a surprising result for many as Lopez came to the tournament after winning the second title of his career at the South African Open recently. On the other hand, Davydenko is still trying to get back
to his full form after being hit with injuries in late 2010.
Start of the first set saw both players exchanging breaks and when the score was tied at 2-2, the Russian started to play aggressively and took four straight games to win the first set 6-2.
Lopez committed 3 double faults and only 36 per cent of his first serves went in. He was able to save only 2 of the 5 break points on his serve while Davydenko saved 3 of the 4 break points he faced.
The second set was a complete one-sided affair and Lopez could not win even a single game. The Spanish looked disappointed after his first set loss and Davydenko took full advantage of it and finished off the match in just 57 minutes. The Russian faced only
one break point which he managed to save while Lopez lost all the three break points on his serve.
This is a morale boosting victory for the Russian who, after losing to world number two Roger Federer in the final of the Qatar Exxon Mobil Open, lost in the first round of three straight tournaments.
Davydenko next faces third seeded Tomas Berdych in the second round. Berdych defeated French Jeremy Chardy in his first round clash.
Meanwhile, Spanish Marcel Granollers defeated his more experienced opponent Dmitry Tursunov of Russia 6-1, 6-3. It was a comfortable win for the 24-year-old Spanish who lost to Serbian Novak Djokovic in the first round of the Australian Open 2011 in January.
It was the first match between the two. Granollers was dominant from the start of the first set and never allowed his Russian opponent to take control of the game. The Spanish hit three aces and one double fault. He did not face any break point in the first
set. On the other hand, Tursunov faced ten break points in the first set from which he managed to save seven.
The second set saw a better fight compared to the first set but again the Spanish was far better than the Russian. Granollers broke Tursunov twice and won the second set 6-3.
Granollers has a huge task ahead as he faces top seed Roger Federer in the second round in what will be the pair’s first ever meeting.
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