Aussie Open 1st Quarter Federer and Davydenko slotted in the quarters
by Nila Amerova
Melbourne , Australia – When the 2010 Aussie Open draw revealed Federer and Davydenko in the same section pundits were understandably given pause. Davydenko was coming off his second consecutive victory against Federer and his second title in a row at Doha. Thus established as the player to beat, he looms as a credible threat to Federer in Melbourne, arguably for the first time in his career. When once Federer and Davydenko sharing a joint stake would not have knocked a bother out of pundits, nor even Federer for that matter, their respective stake in the top half of the draw certainly does now.
Federer’s corner
Federer survived a mammoth of a battle against Igor Andreev in the first round of the Aussie Open yesterday. In fact, Federer lost the first set before recovering in four – it marked the first time in six years that Federer lost the first set in the first round major. That performance has thrust Federer’s campaign into some doubt. Together with his two losses to Davydenko at the ATP Barclay’s World Tour Finals and Doha and everyone is wondering whether his impressive record streak of 22-consecutive straight semi-final appearances at a Grand Slam might come to an end in Melbourne.
It is a long way to the final eight. Next up for Federer is Romanian Victor Hanescu – a much easier matchup on paper for Roger Federer. We should see Federer back to his old self, winning in convincing form and hardly breaking into a sweat. In the third round, Federer would face either unheralded Stephane Robert or No.31 seed Albert Montanes. Neither player would be expected to challenge Federer however. So Fed should make it safely through to the last 16.
In the last 16, things could get trickier for Federer if he comes up against home favourite Lleyton Hewitt, 17 th seed David Ferrer or Marcos Baghdatis. Hewitt is a home favourite so there is the crowd to consider. Federer is a favourite everywhere he goes and let us not forget, he has owned Hewitt over the last few years. Rather negates Hewitt's home edge a bit. Ferrer and Baghdatis are dangerous floaters but to say they could beat Federer, and saying so with any conviction, would be ludicrous. Don’t know anyone who would claim that at this point.
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Davydenko’s quarters
Nikolay Davydenko has a modest little section to get through before he even gets a whiff of Federer in the quarters. He got his campaign off to a convincing start against qualifier Dieter Kindlmann and the next match should be just as straightforward. He is set to face Ilya Marchenko of Ukraine. The 6’1 Ukrainian is a greenhorn with hardly any significant experience at this level. To say he will vex Davydenko with nothing to base it on is a bit of stretch. Not saying he won’t though. He did survive Carlos Moya in the first round – although truth be told, his win wasn’t so surprising. The 30-something veteran, Moya is coming off a hip surgery and limited play on 2009.
Assuming Nikolay Davydenko will go into the third round without too much fuss, he could face either Michael Llodra or Juan Monaco – two hard-hitters that could give him a good battle. In the fourth round, things could get trickier with a blockbuster clash against Fernando Verdasco, the 2009 Aussie Open semi-finalist.
Quarterfinal Prediction: Federer should make the quarterfinals without too much difficulty. Andreev rattled him and that might be a good thing. He should be more focused in the coming rounds. Davydenko has looked solid and everything suggests he will make it to the quarters. I would agree with that assertion. The only round where he could possibly hiccup en route to the quarters is in the last 16 against Fernando Verdasco.
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