Nikolay Davydenko cannot defeat Rafael Nadal with broken wrist
Earlier this year, Rafael Nadal never quite imagined that his seven game winning streak was going to destroyed by a player like Nikolay Davydenko. After all, everybody then was quite sure that Nadal was on his way to win the title; everybody, except Nikolay Davydenko. How could anyone expect Davydenko to win against Nadal? He plays well and awkward at the same time; which to some is a disadvantage. However, what many people discounted is the fact that the Russian is a very smart player.
Everyone can recall how stellar Nikolay Davydenko’s 2009 tennis season has been, to say the least. He defeated Federer in the semi-finals. Davydenko is not known to be charismatic, he is known to be resilient; he does not give-up even if he is down in the match. This can be very helpful especially when you are up against a player like Nadal and Federer. In fact, in his match against Federer last year, he came back after losing the first set 0-6 to Federer. Nikolay finished his 2009 season strong as he won the eight man tournament in London. He finished his 2009 on a high note; hopefully, he carries his winning ways into the 2010 tennis season.
In the early 2010, apart from defeating Rafael Nadal in the Qatar Exxon Mobil Open, he has reached the quarter finals in two of the four hard-court tournaments he has joined. However, once the clay-court tournaments began, Nikolay Davydenko was nowhere in sight.
It’s quite unfortunate that Nikolay Davydenko’s 2010 ended earlier than expected. Earlier this year, Nikolay Davydenko has been mulling over a chronic wrist injury. He fell on his left wrist earlier this year in the Davis Cup and since then, he has pulled out of all major tournaments that he was supposed to join. He has pulled out of the Indian Wells competition and the upcoming French Open. He joins a number of tennis stars, who will not be able to join the French Open.
Unfortunately, the Russian, after having a spectacular 2009 season, is now sidelined for the rest of the tennis season. His left wrist injury is quite serious. According to his doctors, he fell on his wrist and broke it forcing him to retire from the tournaments. According to the ATP, Davydenko will be in a cast for a month, and then he would need another month to put it in a splint before he can even start rehabilitation again. His rehab therapy, according to the ATP, will last for two months more, which forced the two-time French Open semi-finalist to miss the clay season.
Davydenko is a gutsy veteran with 20 career singles titles. He’s among the best clay court players in the world, possessing the ability to hit powerful serves. He has solid crosscourt and backhand shots, which has been his lethal formula throughout his career. If healthy, Davydenko is tough competitor that can beat the like of Roger Federer or even Rafael Nadal.
Apart from not participating in the several clay-court tournaments this year, Nikolay Davydenko has also lost a couple of endorsement deals along the way. Davydenko won a total of five titles last year after coming back from foot and ankle injuries in 2008.
Nikolay Davydenko, did it once before and he will do it again next year. But for now, the most important thing is for him to recover from his wrist injury and regain his form. By next year, Davydenko is expected to back in shape ready to take over the tennis world once again.
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