Nikolay Davydenko ravages Stephane Robert in the opening round – Sud de France Open 2012
Former world number three, Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, exhibited his vintage class on Monday and dumped the 115th ranked local contestant, Stephane Robert in his opening clash of the Sud de France Open. The 30-year-old
Russian veteran took merely 58 minutes to wind up a comprehensive victory in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1, marching into the second round of the tournament.
Being a part of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 swing, the contest was played on the hard courts of the Arena Montpellier, in Montpellier, France. 31-year-old Robert failed to come up to the expectations
of his home crowd and posed a dismal performance to end his voyage in the very first round of the tournament.
Getting a wildcard entry to the tournament, the Russian veteran blasted past his opponent in the most authoritative fashion to clear the first round of the draw. He delivered 74 per cent of his first serve on target and secured
21 out of 25 points on it to drive his opponent out of the contest with the utmost ease.
Davydenko broke in the third and the seventh game to pocket the opening set at 6-2 and went on with his belligerence in the next set as well. Three successive break points conversions from the Russian closed out the match in his
favour at 6-1, awarding him berth in the second round of the tournament.
It was Davydenko’s first victory of the 2012 ATP season and the second one against Robert in singles encounters. The Frenchman suffered a crushing 1-6, 2-6 defeat at the hands of the Russian in Umag, Croatia, in 2010 put forward
a similar sort of miserable performance on Monday afternoon to finish on the losing side once again. On the other hand, Davydenko had lost both of his season-opening encounters in Brisbane International and the Australian Open this month and was desperately
striving for a victory to kick-off the professional circuit. His assertive victory over Robert will certainly boost up his confidence to a whole new level and he will surely eye to claim his 22nd championship title in Montpellier this time.
The Russian will have to take on a tougher challenge in the second round of the tournament draw, where he will have to go through the fourth seed home-favourite, Richard Gasquet, for a place in the quarter-finals of the Sud de
France Open. Being a fourth seed player, Gasquet received a bye into the second round of the tournament.
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