Nikolay Davydenko prevails over qualifier Flavio Cipolla in opening round – Rogers Cup 2011
Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko made a confident start to the Rogers Cup 2011 by easily overpowering his opponent, the Italian qualifier Flavio Cipolla in a two set 6-3, 6-3 victory. The one hour thirty four minutes intense match enables
Davydenko to proceed to the next round at Montreal. The ATP Masters 1000 Tour Canada in itself a storied event, is all the more important as a renowned tune up event for the US Open. Montreal has been attracting the top tennis roster year after year to its
hard courts since 1881.
Currently ranked at No. 30 Davydenko has an extraordinary cache of 21 ATP titles to date. The Russian successfully kick started his season with a resounding performance at Doha, in January. He scored an emphatic semi final win
against Rafael Nadal before finishing runner up to Swiss maestro Roger Federer. With a title at Munich, Davydenko came into to Montreal with a 15-16 win loss ranking. The highest that the 30 year old player has reached at Rogers Cup are two quarterfinal performances
in 2007 and 2009.
Playing almost exclusively on the Challenger Circuit, the 27 year old Italian had barged into the main draws at Montreal with a dismal 2-8 win loss record. Except for a surprising three set victory over Andy Roddick at Madrid in
May, the year has been uneventful for Cipolla. Seeded sixth in the qualifiers, Cipolla had steered clear of American Jesse Levine 6-2, 6-1 in the final match. Monday’s futile attempt was the player’s debut at Rogers Cup.
This was the players’ first meeting on tour.
Davydenko maintained a dominating position throughout the match, serving in the first set at an impressive 73% in stark contrast to his opponent’s 58%. Davydenko won 21 points off his 30 serves while Cipolla struggled to bag 56%
of his serves to advantage. The Russian closed the set with deftly manoeuvred precision at 6-3 by registering a breakpoint to debase his opponent.
Cipolla’s desperate attempt at a recovery failed to deliver again in the second set. Davydenko again sealed the set with a decisive score line at 6-3. Despite an improved serve of 69% by Cipolla, the Italian couldn’t save even
a single break of serve. Davydenko took full benefit of this weakness and registered 4 breakpoints to blow his opponent to smithereens.
In a much anticipated match on Tuesday, Davydenko will meet his toughest competition at the Rogers Cup. Sparks are sure to fly when world No.1 Novak Djokovic will open his campaign in Montreal with a match against former World
No.3 Davydenko. Djokovic had received a bye in the first round.
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