Nikolay Davydenko

Nikolay Davydenko

Country (sports)	Russia
Residence	Monte Carlo, Monaco
Height	5 ft 10 in (177 cm)
Turned pro	1999
Plays	Right; Two-handed backhand
Prize money	$5,211,481
Singles
Career record	208-160
Career titles	10
Highest ranking	No. 3 (November 6, 2006)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	QF (2005, 2006)
French Open	SF (2005)
Wimbledon	2nd (2005)
US Open	SF (2006)
Doubles
Career record	39-43
Career titles	1
Highest ranking	No. 31 (June 13, 2005)
Last updated on: November 21, 2006.

Nikolay Davydenko (Russian: Николай Давыденко; June 2, 1981, Sieverodonetsk, Ukraine) is currently the top-ranked Russian male tennis player and the winner of ten Association of Tennis Professionals singles titles. He currently lives in Monte Carlo, Monaco. In December of 2006 Davydenko married his longtime girlfriend, Irina. As of November 6, 2006, his singles ranking is number three.

Davydenko's best result in a Grand Slam tournament has been reaching the semi-finals; he lost to Mariano Puerta in a semifinal at the 2005 Roland Garros and to Roger Federer at the 2006 US Open.

Early life

Davydenko was born on June 2, 1981, in Sieverodonetsk, Ukraine. At the age of 11, Nikolay left his parents Vladimir and Tatjana to live with his elder brother Edouard in Volgograd, in the belief that Russia would afford more opportunities for his development as a tennis player.

Much later, Davydenko explained his peripatetic youth: "I stayed 4 years in Russia. Edouard worked as a tennis coach for kids and we practiced together. He pushed me pretty hard. At 15 we left for Germany. A Russian who lived there convinced Edouard it would be better for me. In Europe I could play more tournaments than in Russia."^[1]

Davydenko was granted Russian citizenship in 1999, at the age of 18.

Tennis career

A pro since 1999, Davydenko first caught the public eye when he took a set off Pat Rafter in his second round match during his Grand Slam debut at the 2001 Australian Open. He won his first ATP title at Adelaide, Australia in 2003. In the last three years he has climbed from 85th to 3rd in the world rankings, a feat which has made him the highest-ranked male Russian tennis player as of November, 2006. Davydenko is capable of success on all surfaces except on grass where he has had relatively poor results.

Yearly Highlights

2000

• Captured first Futures title at Germany #3 and reached final following week at Germany #4
• In June, reached back-to-back Futures finals at Germany #6 and #7 and made ATP debut in Amsterdam, reaching SF (l. to Sluiter)
• Two weeks later, reached back-to-back Challenger SF at Wrexham and Togliatti
• In August, won first Challenger title at Monchengladbach (d. Kempes

2001

• Made Grand Slam debut at Australian Open, defeating Fukarek in 1st RD before losing to Rafter in four sets in 2nd RD
• Missed six weeks after injuring lower back and hip in 1st RD at Dallas Challenger in February
• Did not win a match again until May in Antwerp Challenger (l. in QF)
• Advanced to 2nd RD on Roland Garros debut (d. Bjorkman, l. to Hewitt)
• Captured Challenger titles in Ulm (d. Labadze) and Istanbul (d. Saulnier)
• Finished season with QF in Basel

2002

• Won 12 ATP level matches and went 16-9 in Challenger play
• On clay in Bastad, defeated C. Rochus and Gonzalez before losing to eventual champion Moya
• Captured fourth career Challenger title in Szczecin (d. D. Sanchez)
• Finished season with second ATP QF in Vienna

2003

• The No. 2 Russian (behind No. 41 Kafelnikov) captured two ATP titles and finished in Top 50 for first time in his career
• Opened season with his first career title in Adelaide (d. Vliegen) and three months later began clay court circuit with title in Estoril (d. Kafelnikov in QF, Mirnyi in SF, Calleri in F)
• Followed with QF in Barcelona (d. Nalbandian, l. to Moya) and in May advanced to final in St. Poelten (d. Verkerk, l. to Roddick)
• Compiled records of 19-15 on clay and 11-13 on hard

2004

• The No. 3 Russian (behind Safin, Youzhny) compiled his best pro season by finishing in Top 30 for first time and capturing two ATP titles for second straight year
• After a 3-9 start through mid-April, turned things around at ATP Masters Series Monte Carlo where he reached QF (l. to Moya) and began a 10-2 run
• Followed with title in Munich (d. No. 5 Schuettler in QF, Verkerk in F) and 3rd RD at AMS Rome (d. Gonzalez, l. to Spadea)
• In July, reached SF in Stuttgart (l. to Canas) and one month later advanced to QF in Long Island
• In October, captured first career title on Russian soil in Moscow by winning singles and doubles titles (w/Andreev)
• Saved one match point in SF win over Youzhny, then saved three match points in final against Rusedski
• Compiled records of 19-12 on clay, 7-10 on hard, 7-4 on carpet, 0-3 on grass
• Earned a career-high $651,372.

2005

• Davydenko began the year with a run to the quarterfinals at the Australian Open
• During the claycourt season, Davydenko followed his success at the Australian with semifinal appearances at the Hamburg Masters and the French Open.
• He closed out the year by reaching the quarterfinals at the Cincinnati Masters and the Paris Masters, and the semifinals at the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai.
• He finished the year as the No. 1 Russian and the No. 5 player in the world.

2006

• He repeated his run to the Australian Open quarterfinals, losing to eventual champion Roger Federer in four sets.
• Davydenko won Pörtschach (clay), Sopot (clay) and New Haven (hard) beginning his hard court winning streak.
• He reached the semis outlasting Tommy Haas in the US Open quarterfinals, rebounding from a two-set deficit to win the 3 hour-45 minute epic 4-6, 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4, but lost to Roger Federer 1-6, 5-7, 4-6.
• Finished the regular season by winning his second Moscow crown and his first ATP Masters Series tournament in Paris.
• Helped Russia win the Davis Cup against Argentina, 3-2.

Masters Series singles finals

Wins (1)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
2006	Paris	Dominik Hrbaty	6-1, 6-2, 6-2

Titles (11)

Singles wins (10)

Legend (Singles)

Grand Slam (0)

Tennis Masters Cup (0)

ATP Masters Series (1)

ATP Tour (9)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the Final	Score
1.	January 5, 2003	Adelaide, Australia	Hard	Kristof Vliegen	6-2, 7-6
2.	April 13, 2003	Estoril, Portugal	Clay	Agustin Calleri	6-4, 6-3
3.	May 2, 2004	Munich, Germany	Clay	Martin Verkerk	6-4, 7-5
4.	October 17, 2004	Moscow, Russia	Carpet (i)	Greg Rusedski	3-6, 6-3, 7-5
5.	May 21, 2005	St. Pölten, Austria	Clay	Jürgen Melzer	6-3, 2-6, 6-4
6.	May 27, 2006	Pörtschach, Austria	Clay	Andrei Pavel	6-0, 6-3
7.	August 6, 2006	Sopot, Poland	Clay	Florian Mayer	7-6, 5-7, 6-4
8.	August 26, 2006	New Haven, USA	Hard	Agustin Calleri	6-4, 6-3
9.	October 15, 2006	Moscow, Russia	Carpet (I)	Marat Safin	6-4, 5-7, 6-4
10.	November 5, 2006	Paris, France	Carpet (I)	Dominik Hrbaty	6-1, 6-2, 6-2

Singles runner-ups (3)

• 2003: St. Pölten (lost to Andy Roddick)
• 2006: Estoril (lost to David Nalbandian)
• 2006: Bastad (lost to Tommy Robredo)

Doubles wins (1)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents in the final	Score
1.	October 17, 2004	Moscow, Russia	Carpet	Igor Andreev	Mahesh Bhupathi Jonas Björkman	3-6, 6-3, 6-4

Performance timeline

Tournament	2006	2005	2004	2003	2002	2001	Career
Australian Open	QF	QF	2r	1r	1r	2r	0
French Open	QF	SF	1r	2r	2r	2r	0
Wimbledon	1r	2r	1r	1r	1r	-	0
US Open	SF	2r	3r	2r	2r	1r	0
Tennis Masters Cup		SF	-	-	-	-	0

External links

• Nikolay Davydenko Online Fansite
• Nikolay Davydenko Official site
• Adler, Benjamin (June 2, 2005) Davydenko: The Other Russian.