Nikolay Davydenko blows-off Ryan Harrison in 1st round – Malaysian Open 2011
Clearing up the first round of the Malaysian Open 2011 on Tuesday, 27th September, what rather seemed like a break after break match between Nikolay Davydenko, Russian world No.36, and Ryan Harrison from American, finished
off with the Russian winning 6-3, 6-2, in an hour and 28 minutes to walk into the second round of the ATP Tour 250 event.
Playing at the Putra Stadium, Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur, the 30-year-old former world No.3 made it look like a one sided match. However, the two had the spectators stunned with numerous breakpoints in the match. Comparatively,
the American 19-year-old was not much of a hurdle for the world No.36.
Kicking off with the fixture, the American went on winning the service toss and served first on the indoor hard circuit. Davydenko, however, mustered the youngster and outplayed the first game breaking the American and taking the
lead, 1-0.
Saving a near breakpoint, the former world No.3 served out game 2 to lead the set 2-0. Breaking again, the Russian went on bombarding the world No.82 with another break-n-serve play to lead the set 4-0. Harrison scores his first
game and broke the world No.36 for the first time, 4-2.
The 30-year-old struck back with a breakpoint as Harrison fell short of taking advantage of the previous game win and lagged behind 5-2. However, he did break back once again to cut the lead to 5-3, yet Davydenko broke back again
to finish off with the first set winning 6-3.
With the two switching on a dog fight, Davydenko served the starter for the second set battle serving out the first game, 1-0. Levelling up next, the 19-year-old served-n-broke next to lead the set 2-1, however, he still could
not retain his own serve after breaking his opponent.
Russian broke back instantly and levelled up the scores at 2-2 and served out next to lead the set 3-2. Harrison, however, could not break again or winning any games on his serves either. With a final break-serve-break finish,
Davydenko ended up the blazing opening round match winning 6-3, 6-2.
Statistically, or we can consider what everyone could see was that Davydenko did not let the American advantage over a breakpoint. Every time Harrison broke, the Russian broke back to either level up or lead the set. Nevertheless,
the 19-year-old’s effort was well appreciated by the world No.36 as he moved on in the event.
Winning the opener, Davydenko now sits in the 2nd round of the Malaysian open 2011 to play against the Czech, Lukasz Kubot, for the quarter-final seat.
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