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6/14/08 7:26 PM | Ricky Dimon
It's No. 1 seed vs. No. 2 seed in the Warsaw final on Sunday. Nikolay Davydenko is seeking his third title of the year while Robredo is playing in his first championship match of 2008.
It will be the seventh head-to-head meeting for veterans Nikolay Davydenko and Tommy Robredo when the top two seeds do battle in the Warsaw title match. Davydenko holds a 4-2 edge in the series, but it is all tied up 2-2 on clay. They have played once this year and Robredo emerged victorious on the clay courts of Rome by a 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(4) decision.
A similarly grueling contest should be expected this time around because both men are back in form after relatively disappointing French Opens. Davydenko suffered a surprise loss to Ivan Ljubicic in the third round, but he has otherwise been playing great tennis this season. The Russian captured his biggest career title with a surprising win at the Masters Series Miami and he added another trophy a few weeks ago in Poertschach. This week Davydenko has taken out Pablo Cuevas 6-3, 6-2, Jiri Vanek 4-6, 7-5, 6-1, Evgeny Korolev 6-4, 6-2, and most recently Fabio Fognini 6-2, 6-3 in the semifinals.
After four straight unseeded opponents, Davydenko will face No. 2 seed Robredo. The Spaniard reached the semifinals in Valencia, the quarterfinals in both Barcelona and Rome, and scored outstanding wins over Stanislas Wawrika and Robin Soderling in Monte-Carlo. He did not enjoy a particularly good French Open, getting destroyed by Radek Stepanek after winning two matches, but like Davydenko he is back on track in Warsaw. Robredo first beat Michal Przysiezny in straight sets, was up a set on Wayne Odesnik when the American retired, survived Oscar Hernandez 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, and then took out Juan Monaco 6-4, 6-4.
Count on another three-set battle like their Rome clash, and even another third-set tiebreaker would not be too surprising. This is going to be a classic clay-court baseline grind and neither player owns a particularly huge serve so plenty of breaks will be in order.
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Did you know that... Sweden won all grand Slam titles in 1988. Stefan Edberg became the Wimbledon champion and Mats Wilander was victorious in the other three.
kaitepai, Dec 2, 2008 4:51 AM
tennisfan2, Dec 2, 2008 3:42 AM
tennisgirl, Dec 1, 2008 11:48 PM
lendl, Dec 1, 2008 6:17 PM
jorgeedu72, Dec 1, 2008 3:34 PM
samprallica, Nov 30, 2008 1:33 PM
samprallica, Nov 30, 2008 1:21 PM
samprallica, Nov 30, 2008 1:15 PM
Nikolay Davydenko
Tommy Robredo
Orange Warsaw Open
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