Head-to-head: Davydenko leads 1-0
2006 AMS Miami Hard Davydenko won 26 62 75
Davydenko has reached the round of 16 at Wimbledon for the first time, and has now appeared in the round of 16 at all four majors. He defeated fellow Russian Evgeny Korolev 76 64 76 in the first round, Chris Guccione 36 57 76 64 62 in the second, and Gael Monfils 63 75 63 in the third.
This is Davydenko’s sixth appearance at Wimbledon. Prior to this year, Davydenko had won just one match here, that being in 2005, when he defeated Scott Draper 76 64 63 in the first round, before losing in the second round to Jonas Bjorkman 76 21 ret. (wrist injury). Last year, he lost to qualifier Alejandro Falla 26 76 76 63 in the first round.
Davydenko is bidding to reach his fourth consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal, and his eighth in total. He has never lost in the round of 16 at a Grand Slam.
If Davydenko defeats Baghdatis, he will complete a set of Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances. He has made quarterfinal appearances at each of the other three majors: for the past three years at both the Australian Open and Roland Garros, and at the US Open last year.
Davydenko’s best Grand Slam results are three semifinal finishes, achieved at Roland Garros in 2005 and in 2007, and the 2006 US Open.
It is six years since a Russian reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals, Marat Safin doing so in 2001. There have never been two Russians in the Wimbledon quarterfinals.
Before Davydenko’s victories in the first three rounds here, he had won just two tour-level grass matches in his career, from 14 such matches played. Following his first round victory here in 2005, his second tour-level grass court win was at Halle just over two weeks ago, when as No. 2 seed he defeated Jurgen Melzer 76 46 62 in the first round, losing in the second round to Florian Mayer 64 64.
Although Davydenko has yet to win a title in 2007, he has had some good results on surfaces other than grass this season. He was a semifinalist at Roland Garros for the second time, and reached the quarterfinals at the 2007 Australian Open. Away from the Slams, Davydenko’s highlights are semifinal finishes at Doha, Rotterdam and AMS Rome, and quarterfinal finishes at Barcelona and Portschach.
Baghdatis defeated Ernests Gulbis 36 64 63 62 in the first round, Nicolas Devilder 60 76 67 62 in the second and No. 23 seed David Nalbandian 62 75 60 in the third.
To view the rest of the information about Marcos Baghdatis click on the related post: Wimbledon match preview: Baghdatis v Nalbandian
Leave a comment