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5/22/08 10:55 PM | Ricky Dimon
There's no rest for the weary as Nikolay Davydenko and Igor Kunitsyn, both of whom won two matches on Thursday, will face off in Poertschach's Friday semifinals. The winner will get either Juan Monaco or Ivan Ljubicic in the title match.
With rain pouring down earlier in the week and tournament organizes scrambling to get the Hypo Group Tennis International in before the rapidly-approaching French Open, Nikolay Davydenko and Igor Kunitsyn have to come right back out onto the court after playing two matches on Thursday. Both men will surely be feeling it in the legs a little bit when they square off head-to-head for the second time in their careers (at the ATP level) in a Poertschach semifinal clash. Davydenko holds a 1-0 edge in their head-to-head series, but this is the first time they have faced off on clay.
Davydenko is the heavy favorite coming into this match and not just because he is the top seed and fourth-ranked player in the world. He is in rare form this season, having won the biggest title of his career at the Masters Series Miami, making it to the final in Estoril, and reaching the semifinals of three other events. The Russian also boasts a solid 12-4 record on clay this season, incuding his three wins this week. On Thursday he knocked out John Isner and Andreas Seppi, both in three-set battles.
Davydenko's unheralded compatriot has done far less in his career and it has been no different in 2008. Kunitsyn, however, seems to be rounding into form at just the right time heading into Roland Garros. He reached the final of a clay-court Challenger event in France two weeks ago and so fair in Poertschach in he has taken out Mardy Fish, Blaz Kavcic, and Austrian hope Jurgen Melzer.
This is simply going to be a baseline battle, as neither player possesses a huge serve. Davydenko has the advantage from the back of the court, but chances are he will be a bit more tired than his opponent, having played six sets over more than three hours less than 24 hours before this semifinal duel kicks off. That will probably allow Kunitsyn to take a set, but Davydenko should be able to pull it together to win in the same way he beat Seppi.
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kaitepai, Dec 2, 2008 4:51 AM
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Nikolay Davydenko
Igor Kunitsyn
The Hypo Group Tennis International
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