Nikolay Davydenko ousts Sergiy Stakhovsky in first round – Western & Southern Open 2011
World number 31, Nikolay Davydenko of Russia kept his clean record against the 42nd ranked Ukrainian, Sergiy Stakhovsky, by defeating him in the opening round of Western and Southern Financial Group Masters, on Tuesday.
Being a part of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Masters Series, the contest was staged at outdoor hard courts at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, near Cincinnati, United States, with the former world number
three winning comprehensively in straight sets. Davydenko settled the final scores at 6-2, 7-6(5), to book a place in the second round of the Cincinnati Masters.
It was the 17th victory for the Russian in the running ATP season and the second one against Stakhovsky in singles encounters. The last time these two met was way back in 2004, when Davydenko ousted the Ukrainian in
straight sets 6-0, 6-3, in the round of 32 in Moscow, Russia. Davydenko kept his clean record against Stakhovsky with another straight sets victory on Tuesday and extended his head-to-head lead to 2-0 against him.
The contest appeared a totally one-sided affair in the opening set, with Davydenko exhibiting sheer dominance in the game, but the Ukrainian made a decent comeback in the following set to make the game more interesting. However,
Stakhovsky failed to make any effective use of his aggression in the game and crumbled in the second set tie breaker to let Davydenko away with victory.
30-year-old Russian veteran was phenomenal with his serve and delivered 70 per cent of it on target to pocket 33 out of 45 first serve points in the matchup. Davydenko cashed in all his three break opportunities in the contest,
with Stakhovsky converting just one out of his five break chances to finish on the losing side in the end.
Two serve breaks right at the beginning took Davydenko to 3-0 but Stakhovsky cracked in his first break point conversion to cut the deficit to 2-3. A third serve break from the Russian racquet proved decisive in the opener, with
Davydenko taking the first set at 6-2 to get one up.
None of the contestants succeeded in registering a serve break in the following set, but a crucial mini-break in the tie breaker round concluded victory for Davydenko at 7-6(5), to send him in the second round of Cincinnati Masters.
The Russian will take on the seventh seeded American contestant, Mardy Fish, in the next encounter for a place in the round of 16.
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