Roger Federer breezes past Nikolay Davydenko to enter semis – Dubai ATP 2013
Seeded second in this event, Roger Federer from Switzerland, trounced the former world number three, Nikolay Davydenko, in straight sets at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships 2013 on Thursday. He jolted down a 6-2, 6-2 victory against Davydenko to power into the final four at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 500 series event held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The world number two, Federer showed flawless performance to outclass the Russian in their 21st encounter. After stealing the limelight, the Swiss improved to 19-2 lifetime in the FedEx ATP Head 2 Head series against Davydenko. As a result, Federer remained on track to defend his title at the Aviation Club Tennis Centre.
The 31-year-old Swiss was quoted in a courtside interview after bagging the match:
“I was very happy, it was a good match for me. I served well from the start. Then, also, I thought I had good timing on the return in particular after missing a lot of returns in the first match [versus Malek Jaziri]. And the second match, obviously, he was serving bigger, [Marcel] Granollers. Today, I thought I was really striking it well, and then [the] virtue of that, was [that I] getting the first strike in and then I was able to control the baseline more.”
The 17-time Grand Slam champion, Federer showed his class in the opening set. After Davydenko held his serve in the opening game, the Swiss unleashed his skills and went on a five-game killing spree. He held his serve once again and clinched the opener with a 6-2 score line.
Federer carried his winning ways in the proceeding set. He again reeled off five games after the Russian held his serve in the opening game. The Swiss plucked his serve once again and clicked the set with a 6-2 win.
All in all, the former world number one clobbered a slightly lower first serve share of 76 per cent as compared to his rival’s 78 per cent but spectacularly marked 27 out of 32 points on it.
Next in queue for the Swiss Maestro is the third seed, Tomas Berdych from Czech Republic.
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