Spaniards crash out, Davydenko rolls on

 

Originally published on: 22/07/10 12:24

He may have won his second clay court title of the year – and the fifth of his career – at the Mercedes Cup on Sunday, but Albert Montanes suffered a Hamburg hangover yesterday.

Beaten 6-4 5-7 7-6(4) by fellow Spaniard Pere Riba – ranked 55 places below him – the world No.24 suffered a shock second round exit at the German Open Tennis Championships.

And Montanes saw his form emulated for the second time in a week by fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro, who, though he capped an excellent seven days for Spanish sport on Sunday after he followed up Spain’s football World Cup triumph with his sixth career title in Bastad, suffered the same fate as his 29-year-old compatriot in Hamburg. Uzbek Denis Istomin brought him back down to earth, winning 7-6(5) 7-6(7). 

While the seeds tumbled, Jurgen Melzer continued the clay-court form that saw him reach the last four at Roland Garros in June, dispatching Argentina’s Eduardo Schwank 6-4 6-1 in just 56 minutes.

Germany’s Philipp Petzschner, who partnered Melzer to the Wimbledon doubles title earlier this month, has never made the third round in Hamburg and was denied again after he was beaten in straight sets by 23-year-old Jeremy Chardy. The 6-3 6-3 victory earned the Frenchman a spot in the third round for just the fourth time in 21 tournaments so far this year.

Nikolay Davydenko, continues to make steady progress on his return from a wrist fracture. The top-seed, who was out for three months after pulling out of his third round clash with Viktor Troicki in Indian Wells, beat Frenchman Florent Serra to make the third round for the first time in his four tournaments since returning from injury.

The 28-year-old Russian won the Hamburg event in 2009 and next faces Russian-born Kazakhstani Andrey Golubev for a place in the quarter-finals.

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