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  • ATP Dubai: Davydenko (5) vs Lopez

    3/7/08 8:20 AM | David Cox
    - It’s a surprise semi-final match-up given the somewhat indifferent form of both men over the past few months.

    With Indian Wells and Miami offering huge points over the next month, its good timing from both, especially Davydenko who has quite a bit to defend on the clay (he made the French Open semis last year)

    Amazingly, Lopez leads their head-to-head 5-0 though none of these matches were played after 2004 and it’s been in the last 3 years that Davydenko had established himself from journeyman to a real force in world tennis. They played in Dubai back in 2004, Lopez winning 6-4, 6-3. Although Davydenko is renowned for his mental toughness, maybe the memory of all those previous defeats will be in the back of his mind

    After such a good performance against Andy Murray yesterday the Russian will be the favourite but only slightly as Lopez has had two excellent wins of his own (David Ferrer and Tomas Berdych), both without dropping a set. The Spaniard’s serving has been the defining factor in these matches while with Davydenko it’s simply been the relentlessness of his baseline hitting

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