Top-10 return for Davydenko
July 27th 2009 10:06
RUSSIAN Nikolay Davydenko is back in the top 10 after a crushing straight-sets victory over Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu in the German Open final overnight.
Davydenko had slumped to No.12 after a host of disappointing results on the ATP Tour this year, but ended his title drought of more than 12 months in style to rise three places in the latest rankings.
The 28-year-old second seed was a hot favourite to defeat Mathieu after edging his way past Spanish claycourt specialist David Ferrer in two tight sets in the semi-finals.
Davydenko always looked set for a strong result after eliminating the previous week’s Stuttgart champion Jeremy Chardy in the third round.
Back-to-back tough wins over in-form Romanian Victor Hanescu and Ferrer justified the tenacious baseliner's rankings rise.
But the tournament was most memorable for Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas’ stunning surge into the semi-finals, where Mathieu finally stopped him.
Cuevas jumped 33 spots in the rankings to a career-high No.74 after upsetting Jurgen Melzer, Phillip Kohlschreiber and Nicolas Almagro.
Mathieu was the other big improver, with an 11-place leap to No.28.
A mediocre draw generally produces a mediocre winner and that was the case at the Indianapolis Tennis Championships, where world No.95 Robby Ginepri came out on top over fellow American Sam Querrey.
Ginepri has won three career titles – also triumphing in Indianapolis in 2005 – and his latest victory demoted Querrey to bridesmaid again after he also lost the recent Newport final to Rajeev Ram.
Querrey should really have won both matches and, despite moving to a career-high mark of 32, will view both as missed opportunities.
The hardcourt season is only going to get tougher with more of the elite players returning to the circuit after Wimbledon.
Meanwhile, 21-year-old German Andrea Petkovic shot to a career-high ranking of No.61 – up 37 places – after claiming her maiden WTA Tour title against Romanian Ioana Raluca Olaru in Austria.
Petkovic had a lifetime 3-8 record on the top tour before last week, but enjoyed wins over seeded players Iveta Benesova and Anna-Lena Groenefeld en route to the final.
Olaru defeated top seed Alize Cornet in the semi-finals to extend the former top-20 Frenchwoman’s run-of-outs, but Cornet will be glad to have clocked up a few wins – no matter how second-rate the opposition.
World No.1 Dinara Safina only just won her 12th career title in Slovenia after dropping the first set against Italian Sara Errani, who was contesting her second straight final.
Errani lost the previous week’s Palermo final to Flavia Pennetta.
The 22-year-old fifth seed was the defending champion in both events.
Semi-finalists Stefanie Voegele, of Switzerland, and Alberta Brianti, of Italy, rose 12 and 17 places respectively in the latest rankings to 75 and 89.
This week's tournaments:
Allianz Suisse Open Gstaad (ATP), Switzerland, July 26-August 2 (defending champion: Victor Hanescu)
Los Angeles Tennis Open (ATP), United States, July 27-August 2 (Juan Martin Del Potro)
Studena Croatia Open Umag (ATP), Croatia, July 28-August 2 (Fernando Verdasco)
Istanbul Cup (WTA), Turkey, July 27-August 2 (Agnieszka Radwanska)
Bank of the West Classic (WTA), United States, July 27-August 2 (Aleksandra Wozniak)
>>> Check in tomorrow for tournament previews/updates
Davydenko had slumped to No.12 after a host of disappointing results on the ATP Tour this year, but ended his title drought of more than 12 months in style to rise three places in the latest rankings.
The 28-year-old second seed was a hot favourite to defeat Mathieu after edging his way past Spanish claycourt specialist David Ferrer in two tight sets in the semi-finals.
Davydenko always looked set for a strong result after eliminating the previous week’s Stuttgart champion Jeremy Chardy in the third round.
Back-to-back tough wins over in-form Romanian Victor Hanescu and Ferrer justified the tenacious baseliner's rankings rise.
Nikolay Davydenko returned to the top 10 today after winning last week’s German Open in Hamburg. Picture courtesy Ryan Pierse, Getty Images
But the tournament was most memorable for Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas’ stunning surge into the semi-finals, where Mathieu finally stopped him.
Cuevas jumped 33 spots in the rankings to a career-high No.74 after upsetting Jurgen Melzer, Phillip Kohlschreiber and Nicolas Almagro.
Mathieu was the other big improver, with an 11-place leap to No.28.
A mediocre draw generally produces a mediocre winner and that was the case at the Indianapolis Tennis Championships, where world No.95 Robby Ginepri came out on top over fellow American Sam Querrey.
Ginepri has won three career titles – also triumphing in Indianapolis in 2005 – and his latest victory demoted Querrey to bridesmaid again after he also lost the recent Newport final to Rajeev Ram.
Querrey should really have won both matches and, despite moving to a career-high mark of 32, will view both as missed opportunities.
The hardcourt season is only going to get tougher with more of the elite players returning to the circuit after Wimbledon.
Meanwhile, 21-year-old German Andrea Petkovic shot to a career-high ranking of No.61 – up 37 places – after claiming her maiden WTA Tour title against Romanian Ioana Raluca Olaru in Austria.
Petkovic had a lifetime 3-8 record on the top tour before last week, but enjoyed wins over seeded players Iveta Benesova and Anna-Lena Groenefeld en route to the final.
Olaru defeated top seed Alize Cornet in the semi-finals to extend the former top-20 Frenchwoman’s run-of-outs, but Cornet will be glad to have clocked up a few wins – no matter how second-rate the opposition.
World No.1 Dinara Safina only just won her 12th career title in Slovenia after dropping the first set against Italian Sara Errani, who was contesting her second straight final.
Errani lost the previous week’s Palermo final to Flavia Pennetta.
The 22-year-old fifth seed was the defending champion in both events.
Semi-finalists Stefanie Voegele, of Switzerland, and Alberta Brianti, of Italy, rose 12 and 17 places respectively in the latest rankings to 75 and 89.
This week's tournaments:
Allianz Suisse Open Gstaad (ATP), Switzerland, July 26-August 2 (defending champion: Victor Hanescu)
Los Angeles Tennis Open (ATP), United States, July 27-August 2 (Juan Martin Del Potro)
Studena Croatia Open Umag (ATP), Croatia, July 28-August 2 (Fernando Verdasco)
Istanbul Cup (WTA), Turkey, July 27-August 2 (Agnieszka Radwanska)
Bank of the West Classic (WTA), United States, July 27-August 2 (Aleksandra Wozniak)
>>> Check in tomorrow for tournament previews/updates
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