Article

  • Rotterdam Second Round Preview: Nikolay Davydenko vs. Michael Llodra

    2/21/08 4:42 AM | Ricky Dimon
    - A drastic difference in style will be on display at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, Netherlands when Nikolay Davydenko and Michael Llodra do battle in a second-round contest.

    Second-seeded Nikolay Davydenko enters his fifth career matchup with second-round opponent Michael Llodra boasting a perfect 4-0 head-to-head match record. Not only is the Russian 4-0 in their meetings, but he has not even dropped a single set. Through two best-of-three matches and two best-of-five tilts, Davydenko has captured all 10 sets contested. Most recently, in fact just one month ago at the Australian Open, Davydenko erased the Frenchman in a first-round clash 7-5, 7-5, 6-3. Two of Davydenko’s wins came on hard courts and the two others were on clay.

    Even though these two players could not contrast more significantly in their styles of play and it would easy to see how each could give the other one trouble, it should not come as a big surprise that Davydenko dominates their head-to-head meetings. Llodra, more of a doubles specialist, relies on a big lefty serve and he loves to follow his weapon into the net. The serve, meanwhile, is by far the worst aspect of Davydenko’s otherwise rock-solid game.

    In matches involving Davydenko, there are almost always an unusual number of service breaks simply because the Russian’s return is impeccable but his serve is not one that allows Davydenko to gain easy holds. Llodra, however, is not strong enough from the baseline to jump all over Davydenko’s week service offerings. Davydenko, on the other hand, loves nothing more than to see his opponents rush into the net after a serve because the return and the passing shot are two of his biggest weapons.

    Nonetheless, all is not grim for Llodra. He is anything but consistent as a singles player, but he does have the talent to enjoy some hot streaks. Seemingly out of nowhere, for example, the Frenchman won the title at this year’s season-opening tournament in Adelaide. That run to the winner’s circle included an impressive straight-set destruction of Jarkko Nieminen in the final.

    Davydenko, meanwhile, is a model of consistency. Almost never does he pull off the necessary big wins over top players in order to win big tournaments, but rarely does he lost early in an event. A second-round exit in Rotterdam would qualify as both early and unexpected. Don’t count on it, though. Davydenko has played two tournaments (Doha and the Australian Open) in 2008 and he won three matches at both. Anything less in Rotterdam would be a surprise.

Tell a friend »

Comments


Write comment

You have to be logged in to comment. If you do not have an account, click here to register. It only takes a minute and you'll be redirected back to this page.
Username:

Password: