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  • Indian Wells Second Round: Nikolay Davydenko vs. John Isner

    3/15/08 5:07 PM | Ricky Dimon
    - John Isner has advanced to the second round of the Pacific Life Open and he will meet Nikolay Davydenko on Sunday in what should be a most interesting contest. Rarely will tennis fans ever see a more striking contrast in styles.

    Raw power meets steely resolve when John Isner takes on fourth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko in the second round of the Pacific Life Open. This the first time Isner and Davydenko will bring their differing game-plans together in a head-to-head clash.

    Neither player has set the tennis world on fire—like Isner did last season at the Legg Mason Classic in Washington, D.C.—yet in 2008, but both are in respectable form. Isner brought a mediocre 3-4 match record into Indian Wells, although it could be far better. The 6’9’’ American has already lost two matches in which he not only advanced to third-set tiebreakers, but also blew match points in the process. It’s a proven fact, however, that Isner is normally rock-solid in pressure circumstances, as he took the tennis world by storm last summer with a run to the Legg Mason final. All five wins en route to the title match came in third-set tiebreakers, and it happened again on Friday in his opening-round match against Simone Bolelli. Isner defeated the Italian 6-3, 6-7(5), 7-6(2) in two hours and 25 minutes, blasting 16 aces in the process. He’ll have to serve that well—if not better—if he hopes to upset Davydenko on Sunday.

    Davydenko’s 2008 campaign has begun in typical Davydenko fashion. In other words, the Russian has done well in every event he’s played, but he has not been able to achieve that one big breakthrough. Davydenko reached the semifinals in Doha (lost to Andy Murray), made it to the fourth round of the Australian Open (lost to Mikhail Youzhny), and eased his way into the semifinals of last week’s event in Dubai (lost to Feliciano Lopez).

    Isner should never be counted out of any match simply because his serve can be so dominant and he has the potential to go through matches without even facing a single break point. Nonetheless, this matchup with Davydenko does not appear to be a favorable one for the American. The Russian gets broken more than any other top player on the ATP Tour, but he also breaks serve more often than just about anyone. The problem for Isner is that his baseline game is not strong enough to take advantage of Davydenko’s subpar serve, so he will have to serve incredibly well to prevent his opponent from gaining an upper-hand in the match with his rock-solid return game. Unless Isner put on an absolutely flawless display of serving, look for Davydenko to pull through in straight sets, although at least one should progress to a tiebreaker.

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