Nikolay Davydenko out of form and out of US Open
This was a year that started with so much promise for Nikolay Davydenko, but as he exited the US Open with barely a whimper in the second round it was clear that along the way, something had gone very, very wrong.
Sixth seeded Davydenko finished his match against Richard Gasquet, whose current ranking of world No. 38 admittedly doesn’t do justice to his talent, seemingly at a loss as to how to even compete against the Frenchman, who won the match 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to move through to the third round at a Grand Slam for the first time since the 2009 Australian Open.
While Gasquet’s aggression as he smacked winner after winner was damaging enough in itself, it wasn’t just his unseeded opponent who defeated Davydenko. The Russian produced 32 unforced errors, and nine less winners, as he also contrived to beat himself.
It was a disappointing end to the 29-year-old’s Grand Slam year, especially after arriving in Melbourne as one of the most highly rated Australian Open contenders based on his form back then.
Never a high profile player, Davydenko had at the 2009 World Tour Finals in London stolen the spotlight from the two current greats of the game, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, as he won the biggest title of his career. When the world No. 6 franked that performance with victory over Federer in the semis and Nadal in the final in Doha during January, there was ample reason to believe this was going to be a big year for Davydenko.
A quarter-final finish (with a four set loss to Federer) at the Australian Open wasn’t a bad start, given Davydenko has never been the strongest player when matches are stretched to the best of five sets at the majors.
The wrist injury he sustained in a fall during his semi-final loss to Robin Soderling in Rotterdam during February, which after two further tournaments (and two comparatively poor finishes) was diagnosed as a break.
The clay court season was a bust, as Davydenko recovered from the injury, and there was expected rust upon his return for the grass court season, where he posted second-round losses at Halle and Wimbledon (to world No. 95 Daniel Brands).
Indeed, it was not until the Cincinnati Masters 1000 during in August, the seventh tournament of Davydenko’s return, that he managed to string together back-to-back wins, which included victory over world No. 11 David Ferrer, before Federer dished out a quarter-final defeat.
Davydenko’s error-strewn exit from the US Open bore all the hallmarks of a player struggling for both form and confidence.
The question now is whether he can turn that round in time to emulate his stellar 2009 autumn, which yielded titles in Kuala Lumpur, the Shanghai Masters 1000 and the World Tour Finals to take his season’s tally to five.
On what we witnessed as Davydenko exited Flushing Meadows yesterday, however, it’s hard to see him even getting close.
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