Soderling and Davydenko win Beijing openers
Third seed Robin Soderling came from a set behind to defeat Tommy Robredo in the first round of the China Open, while Nikolay Davydenko won his opening match in straight sets.
The hard-hitting Swede found himself unable to even generate a break-point opportunity in the first set, but in the second broke Robredo twice as the Spaniard served with a dismal 33 per cent first service percentage and was only able to win 50 per cent of points on the first serves he managed to land in the service box.
Another early break in the third set put Soderling in the box seat to claim victory over an opponent that he’d defeated four times in their previous five matches, including in the round of 16 in Beijing last year and the world No. 5 did just that, winning the match 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 in a touch under one hour and 50 minutes.
Soderling will now play world No. 16 Nicolas Almagro – a player against whom he has lost his two most recent matches (both on clay courts) but also against whom he holds a 3-3 head-to-head record in past matches – in the second round.
Davydenko began strongly in his opening round clash against Florian Mayer, the fourth seed breaking the German in his first service game as racing to a 3-0 lead in the first set, eventually wrapping it up 6-3.
The 29-year-old began the second set in a similar manner, breaking Mayer’s serve in its opening game before the world No. 47 returned the favour, breaking Davydenko to love in the second to level the set at one game apiece.
A second break of the set, however, was soon forthcoming for the world No. 6, who went on to close out the match 6-3, 6-4 in exactly one hour.
Davydenko had arrived at the China Open struggling to recapture the form that saw him win three titles last autumn, including the World Tour Finals in London, having lost in the second round of the US Open and in his opening match at the Malaysian Open last week, after entering the tournament as defending champion.
Today's victory is a small step in the right direction for the Russian, who will be attempting to defend his Shanghai Masters 1000 title next week.
For now though, his focus will be second round opponent, world No. 14 Marin Cilic – another player who began 2010 in red-hot form, defending his titles in Chennai and Zagreb and reaching the semi-finals of the Australian Open, but who, like Davydenko, has been much less frequently spotted at the pointy end of tournaments in recent times.
Top seed Novak Djokovic and second seed Andy Murray won their first round matches in straight sets earlier in the day.
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