2011 AAMI Kooyong Classic: Nikolay Davydenko defeats first-timer Tomas Berdych
Wednesday saw the start of the second exhibition event of the year, the 2011 AAMI Kooyong Classic. The invitation-only event is comprised of singles matches played on outdoor hard courts at the Kooyong Stadium in Melbourne.
The first exhibition event of the year was the 2010 Mubadala World Tennis Championship held in Abu Dhabi. It was here that Tomas Berdych unofficially kicked off 2011, playing his opening match against Marcos Baghdatis. Defeating
Baghdatis, Berdych moved ahead in the event but fell to eventual champion Rafael Nadal in the semis. Berdych’s first official 2011 event was the Aircel Chennai Open where he made it to the semis before losing to eventual champion Stanislas Wawrinka.
A rising star in 2010, Berdych reached a career-high ranking of six after making it to the finals of the 2010 Wimbledon Championship. Although he failed to win a single title in the year, he did manage to maintain his ranking,
qualifying for the season finale event, the ATP World Tour Finals in London. Berdych also enjoyed a final run at the Miami Masters where he lost to local Andy Roddick. Berdych is making his debut Kooyong appearance this year.
Nikolay Davydenko, meanwhile, made his debut at the Kooyong invitational in 2008, though he failed to make it past the first round, losing to Marcos Baghdatis after a hard fought battle between the two. Losing the first set 4-6,
Davydenko turned the tables in the second to reverse the score and clinch a 6-4 victory. But he was unable to maintain his form, losing to Baghdatis by a breadstick.
Ranked sixth in the world in January 2010, Davydenko got off to a superb start defeating both Roger Federer and Nadal at the 2010 Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha and winning the title. However, he fractured his wrist soon after and
failed to clinch any more titles or even play in any more finals. Finishing the season ranked 22nd in the world, Davydenko was unable to qualify for the elite eight-man field at the ATP World Tour Finals. This was a first for the Russian in five
years.
Hoping for a better run this year, Davydenko started off the season defending his title at the 2011 Qatar ExxonMobil Open. Although he was once again able to defeat Nadal in the semis, Davydenko was unable to defend his title.
He lost to champion Federer in straight sets. He plays at the Kooyong event in hopes of getting in some practice before the prestigious Australian Open scheduled for next week.
Playing the third match of the day, the Czech Berdych was pitted against second-time participant Nikolay Davydenko. This was the pair’s eleventh meeting on the court, with the Russian leading the head to head score 9-1 despite
the disparity in rankings. Their last meeting on the courts had come at the Paris Masters where the Russian had extended his already huge lead. Davydenko had earlier enjoyed eight straight wins over the Czech.
Winning the toss, Berdych opened serve and won the first game. From there on it was a hard fought battle between the two. Tied for ten games, neither player could catch a break. It was only in the eleventh game that Davydenko was
able to break through Berdych’s serve and manage two successive wins to clinch the opener 7-5.
The Russian was unable to maintain his form into the second set, and eventually lost it 3-6. With one set each, the match entered the decider. Bouncing back in the third set, Davydenko turned the tables on Berdych and reversed
the score to secure a 6-3 victory.
Davydenko moves into the semis to play Australian Lleyton Hewitt, while Berdych moves into the play-offs where he faces Mikhail Youzhny in the first round.
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