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  • TMS Miami round 4: Ancic vs Davydenko

    4/1/08 9:07 PM | David Cox
    - These two have certainly earned their place in the Miami 4th round, clocking up the hours on court. All five of their matches have gone to three sets and some (like Davydenko’s 3-6, 7-6, 7-6 win over Gulbis and Ancic beating Murray 6-2, 2-6, 7-6) have been mini-classics.

    Both men had to fight their way through long 3rd-round encounters. Davydenko was not expected to be troubled by Simone Bolelli but the Italian came out swinging and dominated the first two sets with his heavy topspin hitting. Eventually, however, the Russian wore him down in true gritty style 6-7, 7-5, 6-1. Ancic also raced through the final set of his match, 7-6, 4-6, 6-1 against world no. 19 Juan Monaco

    Ancic and Davydenko currently stand at 3-3, though they haven’t played since 2006. Ancic won 7-5, 6-4 at this stage in Miami that year and also clocked up a surprising 5-7, 7-6, 6-3 win on clay. Davydenko gained revenge with a comprehensive 6-3, 6-3 victory in the Paris masters quarters, on the way to his maiden masters series title.

    There’s a lot at stake for Davydenko here, as he’s due for a run to the latter stages of a big tournament. He makes a lot of quarters and semis in small tournaments but rarely hits the headlines by making the final of a big one and his hold on a place in the world’s top 5 is tenuous and depends a lot in his performance in next month’s French Open. With Youzhny or Tipsarevic awaiting the winner in the quarters and then probably Roger Federer in the semis (and now is undoubtedly the best time to draw the Swiss genius, his worst start to a season for years), it’s very much anyone’s tournament.

    However, my prediction is for Ancic to win. With nothing to defend, no expectations and his ranking only heading upwards, he can just go out there swinging freely and he’s got the perfect game to challenge the Davydenko serve, the Russian’s only real weakness. It’s been steadily improving this year after a strange dip in confidence on it during the indoor season, but can still yield untimely double faults under pressure and Ancic will no doubt be stepping up the court and taking it on as much as possible as he’s done in all three of his matches so far.

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