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6/1/08 5:47 PM | Jonathan Morgan
Ivan Ljubicic, who has put up disasterous results all season came back from 0-2 sets down to upset the #4 seed and 2 time Roland Garros semifinalist Nikolay Davydenko.
The match started off with Davydenko playing his game and doing it well. It looked to be a repeat of their Hamburg match from just a few weeks ago, where Davydenko took it 6-4, 6-1 in a dominating performance. The first two set saw Davydenko taking the ball early and controlling the points. Ljubicic's bad movement and speed were both exposed with Davydenko's aggresive play. This led to Ljubicic being off-balance and not in ideal positioning to hit shots, leading to short balls. The same short balls that Davydenko ripped. The serve, usually the cornerstone of the Croat's game, did not have the same bite as it can have and Davydenko had no trouble with it.
Then, in the 3rd set, things changed. Davydenko seemed to ease off the gas and felt like he can just push it back and Ljubicic will self destruct. That did not happen. Once Davydenko stopped being as aggresive as in the first two sets, Ljubicic gained for confidence and began playing better. His serve also was on key as it began to click again. Once Davydenko realized this, he tried to be aggresive once more and began missing. Ljubicic would simply keep it in play while Davydenko would either hit a winner or error. As the match wore on, more errors than winners came from the Russian's racket. Ljubicic took his chances as well and playing great on the big points, going 5 for 5 on his break point opportunities. He will play Monfils in the 4th round.
This is Davydenko's first loss from a 2 set lead, and the first time since 2004 that he failed to reach at least the Quarterfinals.
Great comeback from Ljubicic, holding his nerve and playing fantastic on the break points.
Tough loss for Davydenko. He will not lose his ranking, but a few hundred points will be gone.
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Did you know that... While in high school, Mardy Fish played basketball with fellow pro tennis player Andy Roddick.
homos, Dec 3, 2008 9:09 AM
RickyDimon, Dec 3, 2008 5:21 AM
Navratilovastillplay, Dec 3, 2008 12:32 AM
tennisgirl, Dec 1, 2008 11:48 PM
lendl, Dec 1, 2008 6:17 PM
Navratilovastillplay, Dec 3, 2008 1:32 AM
Casper, Dec 2, 2008 8:23 PM
Casper, Dec 2, 2008 8:02 PM
Nikolay Davydenko
Ivan Ljubicic
French Open
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