Nikolay Davydenko

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**Nikolay Davydenko**

Nickname(s)	Kolya, Iron Man, The Machine
Country	Russia
Residence	Volgograd, Russia
Date of birth	June 2, 1981 (1981-06-02) (age 27)
Place of birth	Sieverodonetsk, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Height	178 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	70 kg (154 lb)
Turned pro	1999
Plays	Right-handed; two-handed backhand
Career prize money	$8,458,832
Singles
Career record:	296 - 201
Career titles:	13
Highest ranking:	No. 3 (November 6, 2006)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open	QF (2005, 2006, 2007)
French Open	SF (2005, 2007)
Wimbledon	4th (2007)
US Open	SF (2006, 2007)
Doubles
Career record:	42-46
Career titles:	1
Highest ranking:	No. 31 (June 13, 2005)
Infobox last updated on: May 26, 2008.

Nikolay Vladimirovich Davydenko (Russian: Николай Владимирович Давыденко; born June 2, 1981 in Severodonetsk, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union) is a Russian^[1] tennis player. He is currently the top ranked male player for Russia, fourth in the world, and the winner of thirteen ATP singles titles.

Davydenko's best result in a Grand Slam tournament has been reaching the semi-finals, which he has done on four occasions - twice each at the French Open and the U.S. Open.

[edit] Personal life

Davydenko was born on June 2, 1981, in Severodonetsk, Ukraine to Vladimir and Tatyana. At the age of 11, Nikolay left his parents in Ukraine to live with his elder brother Eduard in Volgograd, Russia in the belief that Russia would afford more opportunities to become a professional tennis player.

Years later, Davydenko explained his peripatetic youth, "I stayed 4 years in Russia. Eduard worked as a tennis coach for kids and we practiced together. He pushed me pretty hard. At 15 we left for Germany. A Russian who lived there convinced Eduard it would be better for me. In Europe I could play more tournaments and earn more money than in Russia."^{[citation needed]}

Davydenko was granted Russian citizenship in 1999 at the age of 18, and has represented Russia ever since. In 2007 he applied for Austrian citizenship (so as to obtain a dual citizenship), and has also previously applied for German citizenship.^[2]

Before the Davis Cup in 2006, Davydenko married his girlfriend and traveling companion of three years, named Irina. He currently resides in Volgograd, Russia.

[edit] Tennis career

Davydenko started playing at age 7 with his brother, Eduard who also turned professional as well. During his junior tennis years, he moved to Salmtal, Germany with his brother to further develop his tennis abilities and to play in more tournaments.

Davydenko turned professional in 1999. In 2000, he played mainly on the Futures Tour where he captured one title and reached three finals. He made his ATP debut at Amsterdam, reaching the semi-final. Later in August, he won his first Challenger title in Monchengladbach.

In 2001, Davydenko made his Grand Slam debut at the Australian Open, where he made it to the 2nd round before losing to former World No. 1, Patrick Rafter in 4 sets. This performance captured the public eye of his talent and ability. Later in February, he injured his lower back in Dallas and subsequently was out for six weeks. After the injury, he came back to win two Challenger titles in Ulm and Istanbul. He finished the season with a quarter-final in Basel.

In 2002, Davydenko continued to play on both the ATP Tour and Challenger events. It was a steady year with quarter-final appearances in Bastad and Vienna. During the year he captured his fourth Challenger title in Szczecin.

Davydenko made huge strides on the ATP Tour in 2003. He opened the season with his first ATP title in Adelaide defeating Kristof Vliegen in the final. A few months later, he captured his second tour title in Estoril on clay beating Agustin Calleri. His season was backed up with solid performances on clay in Barcelona and St. Pölten, reaching the quarter final and final respectively. After a solid year, Davydenko finished in the top 50 for the first time in his career.

His progress continued in 2004, capturing two more titles for the second consecutive year. After a slow start to season, a quarter final in the Monte Carlo Masters kicked off a 10-2 matches run. A week later he won in Munich for his third title. Backed up his win by reaching the semi-final in Stuttgart losing to Guillermo Cañas. In October, he captured his first home soil victory in Moscow by winning both the singles and doubles (partnering Igor Andreev). Finished the season in the top 30 for the first time.

In 2005, began the season by reaching the quarter-final for the first time in a Grand Slam at the Australian Open. During the clay season, captured his fifth career title in St. Pölten beating home favourite, Jurgen Melzer. Continued his solid form by reaching the semi-finals of Hamburg Masters and his first Grand Slam at the French Open. There was a controversy after the French Open because he lost to Mariano Puerta in 5 close sets 3–6 7–5 6–2 4–6 4–6, who was later caught and banned for doping. He reached the top 10 for the first time after the French Open. Closed out the year by reaching the quarter-finals at the Cincinnati Masters and the Paris Masters. After a great season, allowed him to qualified Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai for the first time and reached the semi-finals losing to David Nalbandian. Finished the year as the No. 1 Russian and world No. 5.

Davydenko at the 2006 French Open.

After his rapid rise into the top 5 in 2005, Davydenko continued to stay in the top 5 for 2006. Repeated his quarter-final appearance at the Australian Open, losing to Roger Federer in 4 tight sets, 4–6 6–3 6–7(7) 6–7(5). He had another solid clay court season, reaching the final in Estoril and quarter final at the Hamburg Masters. Defended his title in Pöertschach and reached the quarter-final at the French Open for the second year. His form continued after an early loss at Wimbledon with wins in Sopot and his first American soil win in New Haven. After the win on the hardcourt season, he reached his second Grand Slam semi-final at the U.S. Open, losing to Roger Federer. Finished the season with a win in Moscow and his first career TMS title in Paris. After getting married, Davydenko helped Russia win the Davis Cup against Argentina. He reached a career high ranking of No. 3 which he finished on for the year.

Nikolay Davydenko at the 2007 Hamburg Masters.

2007 started with another quarter-final appearance at the Australian Open for the third consecutive year. He was slow to find his form on clay court season; but found his form at the Rome Masters, losing in the semi-final to the "King of Clay", Rafael Nadal in an enthralling match 6–7, 7–6, 4–6. His good form continued, and he reached semi-final for the second time at the French Open, losing to Roger Federer again 5–7, 6–7, 6–7. At Wimbledon, he surprised the tennis world by reaching the 4th round on his least preferred surface. Moving to the hard court season in the US, Davydenko had strong showings in Canada Masters and Cincinnati Masters, reaching the quarter-final and semi-final respectively. Davydenko then reached the semi-final of the U.S. Open for the second consecutive year before losing to Roger Federer 5–7, 1–6, 5–7. He won his eleventh career title in Moscow, defeating Paul-Henri Mathieu. Davydenko ended the year ranked No. 4 and in the top 5 for the third straight year.

Davydenko started 2008 at the Australian Open where he was seeded fourth. He won his first three matches in straight sets, but in the fourth round he lost to countryman Mikhail Youzhny 6-7, 3-6, 1-6. In Dubai, he reached the semi-final losing to Feliciano Lopez in three sets. He then went on to win his biggest career title to date at the Miami Masters. On the route to the win he defeated Andy Roddick in the semi-final and Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-2 in the final to win his second ATP Masters Series title. His win over Roddick in the semi-final was his first victory over the American in six attempts while his win over Nadal was his first in three attempts.

Davydenko then began the European clay court season with another final appearance in his next tournament, the Estoril Open in Portugal where he met world number 1, Roger Federer in the final. In the second set of the final, while trailing Federer, 6-7 (5), 2-1, Davydenko retired hurt with a left leg injury. He then reached the semi-finals of the Monte Carlo Masters. He won his thirteenth career title in Pöertschach defeating Juan Monaco 6-2, 2-6 6-2.

[edit] Playing style

Tennis Portal

Davydenko employs an aggressive baseline game, using hard, penetrating groundstrokes on both wings. His groundstrokes are technically efficient on both forehand and backhand. He hits the ball extremely early which generates immense power and depth resembling former World No. 1 Andre Agassi. Davydenko's best shot is his backhand which he can hit down the line, cross court or with extreme angles. He is known for his running shots which he takes early and often turn into winners.

Davydenko's main weaknesses are his volleys, lack of variation and inability to close matches. His volleys are not consistent as his groundstrokes, though he does have one of the best drive volleys on Tour. Many tennis analysts have also criticised Davydenko for lacking variation in his game due to the fact he mainly plays from the baseline with his consistent groundstrokes. In recent years, he has varied his game by employing the slice and moving into the net more often. Finally, Davydenko has lost numerous important matches after taking a lead. This was evident during the 2006 Tennis Masters Cup against James Blake and Rafael Nadal where he won the first sets and had leads in the second but lost. Again, his inability to close matches against top players out was shown against Federer at the Australian Open in 2006 and the French Open in 2007. In the Australian Open, he had three set points in the second to go up 2 sets to 1, but lost the set and eventually the match. In the French Open, he had leads in all three sets but ended up losing each one.

[edit] Equipment

Davydenko is sponsored by Prince Sports and Airness. He brings his Prince racquet holdall and is currently using a Prince Ozone racquet, Prince shoes and Airness clothing.

[edit] Trivia

Davydenko's favourite players growing up were Ivan Lendl and Yannick Noah. During his spare time he enjoys cycling, fishing, soccer, and hockey. He is also a Guns N' Roses fan. He speaks Russian, German and English.

Tennis fans have nicknamed Davydenko "Kolya", the Russian nickname for Nikolay. He has also been called "Iron Man" because he plays in more tournaments per year than any other player, just like fellow Russian and former World No. 1 Yevgeny Kafelnikov. Another nickname is "The Machine" due to his aggressive, consistent style of play.

[edit] Controversies

The ATP is currently investigating Davydenko's match against Martin Vassallo Arguello in Sopot on 2nd of August 2007, after several large bets were placed at an online British gambling company, Betfair, in Arguello's favor after Davydenko had won the first set 6–2. Davydenko withdrew from the match during the third set with a foot injury.^[3] Although Davydenko had suffered three first-round defeats in his last three tournaments, was injured in an earlier-round match, and showed signs of injury in the second set,^[4] it did not make sense to Betfair that such a heavy betting volume would go in Arguello’s direction at that point of time in the match. Per its agreement with the ATP, Betfair notified the Tour.^[5]^[6]^[7] It has since been revealed that nine people based in Russia had bet US$1.5m on Davydenko losing while two unknown people would gain US$6m from the loss.^[8]^,^[9] Due to the irregularities, however, the bet was voided.

Further controversy surrounded Davydenko at the St. Petersburg Open in October. During his 1–6, 7–5, 6–1 defeat by Marin Cilic he was given a code violation by umpire Jean-Philippe Dercq for not giving his best effort. He was later fined $2000 (£987) by the governing body of men's Tennis, the ATP, but the fine was rescinded upon appeal.^[10] The following week, he lost 6–2, 6–2 to Marcos Baghdatis at the Paris Masters. This generated some controversy, as Davydenko was cautioned by the umpire to do his best during the match.^[11]

[edit] Yearly highlights

[edit] 2000

Captured first Futures title at Germany #3 and reached final following week at Germany #4
In June, reached back-to-back Futures finals at Germany #6 and #7 and made ATP debut in Amsterdam, reaching SF (l. to Sluiter)
Two weeks later, reached back-to-back Challenger semifinals at Wrexham and Togliatti
In August, won first Challenger title at Monchengladbach (d. Kempes)

[edit] 2001

Made Grand Slam debut at Australian Open, defeating Fukarek in 1st RD before losing to Rafter in four sets in 2nd RD
Missed six weeks after injuring lower back and hip in 1st RD at Dallas Challenger in February
Did not win a match again until May in Antwerp Challenger (l. in QF)
Advanced to 2nd RD on Roland Garros debut (d. Bjorkman, l. to Hewitt)
Captured Challenger titles in Ulm (d. Labadze) and Istanbul (d. Saulnier)
Finished season with QF in Basel

[edit] 2002

Won 12 ATP level matches and went 16-9 in Challenger play
On clay in Båstad, defeated Rochus and González before losing to eventual champion Carlos Moyà.
Captured fourth career Challenger title in Szczecin (d. D. Sánchez)
Finished season with second ATP QF in Vienna

[edit] 2003

The No. 2 Russian (behind No. 41 Kafelnikov) captured two ATP titles and finished in Top 50 for first time in his career
Opened season with his first career title in Adelaide (d. Vliegen) and three months later began clay court circuit with title in Estoril (d. Kafelnikov in QF, Mirnyi in SF, Calleri in F)
Followed with QF in Barcelona (d. Nalbandian, l. to Moyà) and in May advanced to final in St. Poelten (d. Verkerk, l. to Roddick)
Compiled records of 19-15 on clay and 11-13 on hard

[edit] 2004

The No. 3 Russian (behind Safin, Youzhny) compiled his best pro season by finishing in Top 30 for first time and capturing two ATP titles for second straight year
After a 3–9 start through mid-April, turned things around at ATP Masters Series Monte Carlo where he reached QF (l. to Moyà) and began a 10-2 run
Followed with title in Munich (d. No. 5 Schüttler in QF, Luis Horna in SF, and Verkerk in F) and 3rd RD at AMS Rome (d. González, l. to Spadea)
In July, reached SF in Stuttgart (l. to Cañas) and one month later advanced to QF in Long Island
In October, captured first career title on Russian soil in Moscow by winning singles and doubles titles (w/Andreev)
Saved one match point in SF win over Youzhny, then saved three match points in final against Rusedski
Compiled records of 19-12 on clay, 7-10 on hard, 7–4 on carpet, 0–3 on grass
Earned a career-high $651,372.

[edit] 2005

Davydenko began the year with a run to the quarterfinals at the Australian Open
During the claycourt season, Davydenko followed his success at the Australian with semifinal appearances at the Hamburg Masters and the French Open.
He closed out the year by reaching the quarterfinals at the Cincinnati Masters and the Paris Masters, and the semifinals at the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai.
He finished the year as the No. 1 Russian and the No. 5 player in the world.

[edit] 2006

He repeated his run to the Australian Open quarterfinals, losing to eventual champion Roger Federer in four sets.
Davydenko won Pörtschach (clay), Sopot (clay) and New Haven (hard) beginning his hard court winning streak.
He reached the semi-final at the US Open after outlasting Tommy Haas in the quarter-final, rebounding from a two-set deficit to win the 3 hour-45 minute epic 4–6, 6–7(3), 6–3, 6–4, 6–4, but lost to Roger Federer, 1–6, 5–7, 4–6.
Finished the regular season by winning his second Moscow crown and his first ATP Masters Series tournament in Paris.
Helped Russia win the Davis Cup against Argentina, 3–2.
Davydenko finished the year as the No.1 Russian and ranked No.3 in the world.

[edit] 2007

He started out strong at Doha, losing in the semi-final to 4th seed Andy Murray in straight sets 5–7 2–6.
At the Australian Open, he reached the quarterfinal, losing to 12th seeded Tommy Haas of Germany in 5 sets, having held a match point.
At Rotterdam, as the No. 1 seed, he made it to the semifinal and had chances multiple times to take out Ivan Ljubičić, but failed to convert on those chances. Ljubičić eventually won the match in a third set tiebreaker.
At the Rome Masters, he lost to two-time defending champion and King of Clay, Rafael Nadal in the semi-final, 6–7 7–6 4–6. This was a very tight match and could have gone either way. He is the player closest to beating Nadal on clay since 2006 until Nadal's defeat to Roger Federer in Hamburg.
Reached the semi-final at the French Open, losing to Roger Federer 5–7, 6–7, 6–7 in a closely fought match where Davydenko had many opportunities to at least win one of the sets.
Reached the 4th round of Wimbledon for the first time in his career before losing to Marcos Baghdatis.
At the Cincinnati Masters, he defeated No. 12 Tomas Berdych and No. 15 David Ferrer before falling to American James Blake in the semi-finals.
Reached the semi-final of the U.S. Open for the second consecutive year. Lost to Roger Federer, 5–7, 1–6, 5–7.
Won his first title of the year at Moscow without losing a set, defending the title from last year.
Davydenko finished the year as the No. 1 Russian and ranked No. 4 in the world.

[edit] 2008

Started the season by reaching the semi-final of Doha, losing to Andy Murray.
Reached the 4th round of the Australian Open, before losing to Mikhail Youzhny, 6–7 3–6 1–6.
Made the semi-final of Dubai losing to Feliciano Lopez in 3 sets.
Won the Miami Masters defeating Rafael Nadal in the final, 6-4, 6-2 to claim his second ATP Masters Series title.
After Miami, Davydenko made the final of Estoril, losing to Roger Federer, after retiring at 6-7 2-1.
At the Monte Carlo Masters Davydenko lost in the semi-finals to Rafael Nadal.
Won his thirteenth career title in Pöertschach.

[edit] Masters Series singles finals

[edit] Wins (2)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
2006	Paris	Dominik Hrbaty	6–1, 6–2, 6–2
2008	Miami	Rafael Nadal	6–4, 6–2

[edit] Titles (14)

[edit] Singles titles (13)

Legend
Grand Slam (0)
Tennis Masters Cup (0)
ATP Masters Series (2)
ATP Tour (11)

Titles by Surface
Hard (3)
Clay (6)
Grass (0)
Carpet (4)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	January 5, 2003	Adelaide, Australia	Hard	Kristof Vliegen	6–2, 7–6(3)
2.	April 13, 2003	Estoril, Portugal	Clay	Agustín Calleri	6–4, 6–3
3.	May 2, 2004	Munich, Germany	Clay	Martin Verkerk	6–4, 7–5
4.	October 17, 2004	Moscow, Russia	Carpet (i)	Greg Rusedski	3–6, 6–3, 7–5
5.	May 21, 2005	St. Pölten, Austria	Clay	Jürgen Melzer	6–3, 2–6, 6–4
6.	May 27, 2006	Pöertschach, Austria	Clay	Andrei Pavel	6–0, 6–3
7.	August 6, 2006	Sopot, Poland	Clay	Florian Mayer	7–6(6), 5–7, 6–4
8.	August 26, 2006	New Haven, USA	Hard	Agustín Calleri	6–4, 6–3
9.	October 15, 2006	Moscow, Russia	Carpet (i)	Marat Safin	6–4, 5–7, 6–4
10.	November 5, 2006	Paris, France	Carpet (i)	Dominik Hrbatý	6–1, 6–2, 6–2
11.	October 14, 2007	Moscow, Russia	Carpet (i)	Paul-Henri Mathieu	7–5, 7–6(9)
12.	April 6, 2008	Miami, USA	Hard	Rafael Nadal	6–4, 6–2
13.	May 24, 2008	Pöertschach, Austria	Clay	Juan Monaco	6–2, 2–6, 6–2

[edit] Singles runner-ups (4)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	26 May 2003	St. Pölten, Austria	Clay	Andy Roddick	6–3, 6–2
2.	8 May 2006	Estoril, Portugal	Clay	David Nalbandian	6–3, 6–4
3.	17 July 2006	Båstad, Sweden	Clay	Tommy Robredo	6–2, 6–1
4.	20 April 2008	Estoril, Portugal	Clay	Roger Federer	7–6(5), 1–2 ret.

[edit] Doubles wins (1)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents in the final	Score
1.	October 17, 2004	Moscow, Russia	Carpet (I)	Igor Andreev	Mahesh Bhupathi Jonas Björkman	3–6, 6–3, 6–4

[edit] Team title

2006 – Davis Cup winner with Russia

[edit] Performance timeline

Tournament	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	Career
Australian Open	2R	1R	1R	2R	QF	QF	QF	4R	0
French Open	2R	2R	2R	1R	SF	QF	SF	3R	0
Wimbledon	-	1R	1R	1R	2R	1R	4R		0
US Open	1R	2R	2R	3R	2R	SF	SF		0
Tennis Masters Cup	-	-	-	-	SF	RR	RR		0
ATP Masters Series
Indian Wells Masters	A	A	A	1R	2R	3R	4R	3R	0 / 5	4–5
Miami Masters	A	2R	1R	2R	2R	4R	3R	W	1 / 6	11–6
Monte Carlo Masters	A	A	1R	QF	3R	1R	2R	SF	0 / 6	8–6
Rome Masters	A	1R	2R	3R	1R	3R	SF	3R	0 / 7	9–7
Hamburg Masters	A	A	2R	1R	SF	QF	3R	3R	0 / 6	10–6
Canada Masters	A	A	2R	A	3R	1R	QF		0 / 4	5–4
Cincinnati Masters	A	A	1R	A	QF	1R	SF		0 / 4	6–4
Madrid Masters (Stuttgart)	A	A	1R	A	3R	2R	A		0 / 3	1–3
Paris Masters	A	A	1R	2R	QF	W	3R		1 / 5	8–4
ATP Tournaments Won	0	0	2	2	1	5	1	2	N/A	13
Year End Ranking	79	81	44	28	5	3	4	-	N/A	N/A