Nikolay Davydenko cripples Alex Bogomolov Jr. to reach round two – China Open 2012
In an all-Russian affair, Nikolay Davydenko devastated his qualifying compatriot, Alex Bogomolov Jr., with a breadstick at the China Open 2012 on Tuesday. He juggled up a 7-5, 6-1 victory against the world number 92 to secure a spot in the round of 16 at
this outdoor hard court event held in Beijing, China.
The former world number three, Davydenko re-ignited his spark to overpower the 29-year-old in their first meeting at the National Tennis Center. After recording the victory in one hour and 41 minutes, Davydenko not only edged in the FedEx ATP (Association
of Tennis professionals) Head 2 Head Series by 1-0 against his fellow citizen and advanced into the second round.
Davydenko comfortably entered this ATP World Tour 500 Series event. He drew the first blood in the opening game and took the initial lead. The Russian veteran then exchanged three serve breaks and ultimately sealed the opener by winning seven games to five.
He dusted away two out of five breakpoints he came across and converted four out of 10 break chances to his advantage.
Ranked 43rd in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Davydenko perfected his play in the following set. He got the desiderated break in the opening game and jumped to a 2-0 lead. After Bogomolov held his serve in the third game, the
higher ranked Russian unleashed flurry of groundstrokes and reeled off last four games. He brushed off both breakpoints he faced and cashed in half of the six break opportunities to steal the show.
The Ukrainian-born Davydenko took full advantage of several unforced errors his compatriot committed. He also produced a better first serve share of 75 per cent as compared to his rival’s 64 per cent and clicked 30 out of 49 points on it.
The 31-year-old will face off third seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the pre-quarters. The French number one bounced back to outclass Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin in a three-set thriller to set up this clash. He was broken once but capitalised on two out of five
break chances to formulate a 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(3) score line in almost two hours.
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