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6/9/10 2:25 AM | Ricky Dimon
Nikolay Davydenko plays his first match since mid-March and beats Simon Greul in straight sets on Tuesday in Halle. Jurgen Melzer also advances, but Mikhail Youzhny is upset by Nicolas Kiefer.
Playing for the first time since suffering a fractured wrist three months ago, Nikolay Davydenko defeated Simon Greul 7-6(1), 6-0 in the first round of the Gerry Weber Open on Tuesday. A somewhat rusty Davydenko got better and better as the match progressed and advanced after one hour and 34 minutes.
The fifth-ranked Russian served horribly in the opening set but was broken just once on the way to a tiebreaker. That's when Davydenko started to raise his level and he rolled through the decider seven points to one.
From there it was all over for Greul, who disappeared in the second frame of play. The 66th-ranked German won only eight points in the entire set, including a mere five on his own serve. Davydenko finished with three aces and four double-faults while winning 80 percent of his first-serve points.
The German fans had better luck with wild card Nicolas Kiefer, who upset No. 3 seed Mikhail Youzhny 4-6, 6-1, 7-5. Playing just his second ATP match of the season, Kiefer battled back from a set down to thrill the crowd with a surprise victory that took two hours and seven minutes.
Although Youzhny served out the opening set at 5-4, Kiefer served incredibly well from start to finish to keep himself in the match. The world No. 181 blasted 19 aces and won a whopping 89 percent of his first-serve points. His third break of the day at 5-5 in the third allowed him to finish off the proceedings on serve and book a spot in the second round.
French Open semifinalist Jurgen Melzer also prevailed in three sets, taking out Alexandre Kudryavtsev 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-2. Melzer, who gave a break back in the second set, needed to win a tiebreaker just to avoid a straight-set defeat. Once the 16th-ranked Russian seized the momentum, however, he cruised the rest of the way.
Melzer struck nine aces and one double-fault on the way to a meeting with Mischa Zverev. Kiefer, meanwhile, now faces an all-German clash against Andreas Beck.
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Not a huge Davy fan but pleased to see him back from injury and on the winners' list.
sukhumvit , 6/9/10 4:30 AM