Simon Reed

Why Davydenko is tennis's great enigma

Tue Oct 20 12:59PM

You can say what you like about Nikolay Davydenko, but the way he withstood the flak and innuendo that surrounded him after the betting controversy has been amazing.

Ever since the allegations surfaced after he pulled out of a tournament in 2007 the whispers and looks have followed him everywhere, but he has kept his focus and concentration superbly to stay in the top tier of tennis. It's been unreal.

But Davydenko is a very strange kettle of fish. There is a real hardness about his character that keeps him so consistent - yet at the same time that toughness seems to disappear against the top players in Grand Slams.

More than any other player he has a habit of going exactly as far as the seedings say he should, but no further. The rest of the year - including in Masters events, as he showed at the weekend - his resilience, motivation and skill are such that he can beat any player in the world.

He's a very fine ball striker, tactically excellent, moves extremely well and, when his confidence is there, is extraordinarily difficult to beat.

Except in Grand Slams, where he has never got beyond a semi-final, and has shown a weakness that flies in the face of everything else about him.

Having said that, the same mental weakness has come out once before. I'll never forget watching him at the 2007 Paris Masters, just a few months after the initial match-fixing allegations and a week after he received an official warning and £1,000 fine from the ATP for not trying hard enough at a tournament in St Petersburg.

There, in Paris, Davydenko completely lost the ability to serve in what was the worst case of the yips I've ever seen in tennis. He just couldn't get the ball into the box, and even when admonished by the umpire he still couldn't do it.

There was no question in my mind that he was giving his best effort and the only thing you can conclude is that his normally well-hidden mental frailties had reared their heads once more.

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Davydenko was cleared of match fixing in 2008 after the longest investigation the game has seen.

But tennis needs to remain vigilant. I don't believe for one second that the sport would ever see a betting scandal at a major event, but there are plenty of minor tournaments out there where the prize money, prestige and rankings points on offer could be comfortably outweighed by a hefty bet and a thrown match.

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It's great news that Alex Bogdanovic won a Challenger event this weekend - but we've always known that Bogo has the talent when he finds the confidence.

So why doesn't he produce the goods more often? For my money, the question is whether he works hard enough on his game - and the only person who can answer that is the man himself.

Compare him to a player like Jamie Baker, who has put together a fantastic run in ITF tournaments over the last few weeks. Jamie has been blessed with nothing like the raw talent that Bogo has, but has always worked his socks off to get the best from himself.

Can Bogdanovic look himself in the mirror and say the same thing?

From what I've heard at the LTA, the British number two has renewed his effort of late, really putting in the hours.

If so, and if he can start to overcome the demons which have always stopped him producing his best tennis under pressure, maybe he can finally start showing what he's capable of.

Comments1 - 24 of 24

Who cares!!! My boyfriend thinks the same with me. He is eight years older than me, lol. We met online at Agemingle ---C o m- nice and free place for younger women and older men, or older women and younger men, to interact with each other. Maybe you wanna check out or tell your friends.
From melodykat29 on Tue Oct 20 01:25PM
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Who cares!!! My boyfriend thinks the same with me. He is eight years older than me, lol. We met online at Agemingle ---C o m- nice and free place for younger women and older men, or older women and younger men, to interact with each other. Maybe you wanna check out or tell your friends.
From melodykat29 on Tue Oct 20 01:25PM
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Oh com'n...Davydenko proved himslef as a classy and stable player at any tournament. There is no such thing as "disappeared toughness at Grand Slams". He has never reached a final that's true, but how many times he has reach semi and quater finals...and how many top-10 players he beat on his way to the last rounds? He is an excellent player and many in top 10 should yet attain what he did!
From vitaly16 on Tue Oct 20 01:28PM
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Such player as Tim Henman should be dreaming of Nickolay's stability and winner's mentality...
From vitaly16 on Tue Oct 20 01:33PM
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i trust the lottery has stopped funding british tennis - it much better spent on the black lesbian society building extension
From dave.hartley on Tue Oct 20 01:53PM
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Daveydenko is a great player, maybe mentally he doesn't ahve what it truly takes to go that one step further and win a slam but his great, and i love that he doesn't mess around, he comes to play not to advertise or make goody goody without everyone around, its his racquet that does the talking and is a danger to anyone very consistent and that is what has kept him in the top ten for years. Its not even about any day he can beat someone no he really can any one not just on any day. I knew he would beat Rafa because he refuses to be pushed around and can rally with you but can also just stop a rally because he just doens't want to be in it any more.
From jpyt06 on Tue Oct 20 01:56PM
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dave.hartley,
What do you mean, mate?
From vitaly16 on Tue Oct 20 02:00PM
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Get ready for a Reed bashing from the tennis zealots.
From rstopford on Tue Oct 20 02:18PM
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Sure beats him waffling on about Murray!
From alpagten on Tue Oct 20 02:40PM
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alright article.
From aleksicn93 on Tue Oct 20 03:08PM
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drink less, man
From aphrodita on Tue Oct 20 03:22PM
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Davydenko has reached 3 grand slam quarters (all at the Australian Open, 2005, 2006 and 2007) and 4 semis (French Open 2005 and 2007 and US Open 2006 and 2007). Consistent, but not exactly setting the world alight. Tim Henman reached 6 grand slam semis!
From boss.eyes on Tue Oct 20 04:41PM
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I think you should all read Charlie's article about Davy in tennisnews.com
Including you Simon. He has only nice things to say.
From katy.hume on Tue Oct 20 04:53PM
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boss.eyes,
And how many titles Tim Henman won? Eleven only...Davydenko has got eighteen already and he is yet to play a few more years...My point is that there is no enigma around Nickolay and many players should learn from him, inculding British legeng Henman and a legend to be (as you all hope) Bogdanovic..
From vitaly16 on Tue Oct 20 05:19PM
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Do not tell me,again Simon Reed! ...
From superrbrowserr on Tue Oct 20 06:13PM
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Tim Henman won 10 million dollars in prize money and was a consistent top 10 player. I don't think he has anything to be ashamed of. Not many people DO win Grand Slams.
From jon60p on Tue Oct 20 07:01PM
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what the frik is this moron reed talking about this time????...what are you trying to say man???
that davydenko is good but he is weak with the insinuation that he could possibly still be "corrupt"...
and what of the relevance in discussing the british players in regards to the first part of his article???
this guy is clearly a moron which he has displayed time and again...eurosport, do something about having him on your roster before losing all credibility!!!
From millenniumc2000 on Tue Oct 20 08:54PM
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The discussion about Davydenko vs British players is because of the author...Davydenko's confidence has nothing to do with Bogdanovic confidence...
From vitaly16 on Tue Oct 20 10:02PM
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And why in the world would say smth like that about Nickolay as if Murray and Henman have won all possible Grand Slams. Mr. Reed represents UK and he speaks from this standpoint..and I think it's unwise to criticize someone's confidence and ability like this Russian player if you haven't got much in your "own garden"...
From vitaly16 on Tue Oct 20 10:04PM
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Reed you forgot about the dollar signs! )))
From egy_allat on Tue Oct 20 10:21PM
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The way he played Nadal last Final was exceptional. Well deserved win..
From fazlimakali on Wed Oct 21 12:12AM
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He deserves to win. So shut up Reed.
From chiekomatsuoka on Wed Oct 21 02:42AM
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I don't wanna take anything from Davyenko's victory - he played great all week and delivered stunning matches against Djoco and Nadal but also this comes to mind - most of the top players pulled out from this event: Roger, Murray (yeah yeah many of u hate him, I'm not a fan of him either but I still consider him a force to be reckon with in the tennis world), Roddick and Del Potro and we have to add that Nadal has not reached his past level yet (all throughout last year and the first 4 months of this season). In my heart I wanted Nadal to win so badly but I knew he wouldnt especially after I saw the tennis Davyenko produced in the semi-final.
It's still great to see the russian back no matter what and it is healthy for tennis. Good luck to him in the future and may we all enjoy good tennis in the last few tournaments remaining in this season.
From khoueiryv on Wed Oct 21 06:25AM
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I admire Davydenko's tenacity and his fighting spirit and his sportsmanship. I hope he continues to play well..He should be admired as he has been in the top 10 for several years now..not many players are able to claim that. Reed overstates his case about Davydenko..why? The betting scandal had to be a nightmare and it is amazing that he was able to soldier through without dropping out of the rankings. The length of the investigation seemed out of line, especially as no evidence was found after months of harrassment. From Sandy
From sandradriscoll on Mon Nov 02 08:05AM
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