Top

Davydenko retires with wrist injury


 

Originally published on: 05/03/10 15:55

Nikolay Davydenko was forced to withdraw midway through his second round clash at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships after dropping the opening set to Michael Berrer.

The Russian struggled with an existing wrist injury before calling it quits after the German held on to an early break advantage to clinch the opening set.

Davydenko had hoped to battle through the pain, but eventually succumbed to the injury he picked up after falling during his Rotterdam semi-final loss to Robin Soderling.

“I was thinking about it too much for me, you know, get too risky now and better to retire,” said the 28-year-old. “It’s disappointing for me because I didn’t recovery fast enough.”

The fourth seed’s withdrawal handed the German world No.56  a free passage to his third quarter final of the season, but the 29-year-old leftie was confident that victory on his own terms was achievable.

“At the moment, I’m very self-confident. My way of playing – I think i can hurt alot of guys,” he said.

“Today I felt like I had a chance, and I was a little bit disappointed to be honest. But it’s okay – I’ll take it.”

Berrer has been enjoying easily his best season to date, having clinched 10 wins in 2010 – already doubling the five he achieved throughout the whole of 2009 – and made the first ATP final of his career in Zagreb earlier this month.

Marin Cilic – the man who defeated him in that final – also progressed to round three in Dubai after beating Stefan Koubek to win his 17th match of the season.

Highest seed Novak Djokovic also advanced in the sweltering 34°C heat, but admitted he was fortunate to beat friend and fellow Serb Viktor Troicki 3-6 6-4 6-2.

“I won, that’s what matters, but he was a better player for a set and a half,” the world No.2 conceded before attributing his comeback to the conditions in Dubai.

“I think this is one of the rare tournaments that you really feel [a] big, big difference between the day match and night match,” he said.

“The balls go really much faster, and as soon as the shade came on the court, I felt more control over my game. So in the end, I managed to win.”

Djokovic and Troicki duelled less than 24 hours after spending a light hearted evening together at the ever popular players party on the lawns of the Aviation Club.

Continuing to revel in putting on a show, the Dubai tournament also played host to Ian Bell and other members of the England cricket squad, who popped by to watch Jo-Wilfred Tsonga defeat Marseille Open 13 champ Michael Llodra.

Now get the WORLD’S BEST TENNIS MAGAZINE here


Tim Farthing, Tennishead Editorial Director & Owner, has been a huge tennis fan his whole life. He's a tennis journalist and entrepreneur as well as playing tennis to a national standard. He also helps manage his local club and volunteers for his local tennis organisation. He's a specialist in content about the administration of professional tennis and tennis coaching for all levels.