Nikolay Vladimirovich Davydenko ( ; born 2 June 1981) is a Russian former professional
tennis
Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
player. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 3 in November 2006. Davydenko's best result in a Grand Slam tournament was reaching the semi-finals, which he accomplished on four occasions: twice each at the French Open and the U.S. Open, losing to
Roger Federer
Roger Federer ( , ; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 3 ...
in all but one of them. His biggest achievement was winning the 2009 ATP World Tour Finals, and he also won three
ATP Masters Series
The ATP 1000 events, also known as ATP Masters 1000 tournaments, are an annual series of nine tennis tournaments featuring the top-ranked players on the ATP Tour since its inception in 1990. The ATP 1000 tournaments, sitting below the Grand ...
Nikolay was born on June 2, 1981, in Sievierodonetsk, at that time Severodonetsk, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union, in the family of Vladimir and Tatiana Davydenko. He started playing tennis at the age of 7 with his brother Eduard, nine years his senior. At the age of 11, he left his hometown for the Russian city of
Volgograd
Volgograd,. formerly Tsaritsyn. (1589–1925) and Stalingrad. (1925–1961), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. The city lies on the western bank of the Volga, covering an area of , with a population ...
. The initiator of the departure was his brother Eduard who worked as a children's tennis coach in Volgograd at that time. He motivated his brother's move by the fact Nikolay's professional growth at home was impossible. Four years later, in 1996, the brothers decided to move to Salmtal, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany for the same reasons.
The brothers had lived in Germany for three years and then applied for German citizenship but the German Tennis Federation did not support the application, and as a result, they returned to Russia. In 1999, at the age of 18, Nikolay changed his Ukrainian citizenship (granted at 14 by default) to the Russian one. In 2007, he applied for Austrian citizenship (so as to obtain
dual citizenship
Multiple citizenship (or multiple nationality) is a person's legal status in which a person is at the same time recognized by more than one sovereign state, country under its nationality law, nationality and citizenship law as a national or cit ...
), unsuccessfully. He was motivated by the difficulties obtaining
travel visa
A visa (; also known as visa stamp) is a conditional authorization granted by a polity to a foreigner that allows them to enter, remain within, or leave its territory. Visas typically include limits on the duration of the foreigner's stay, area ...
with the Russian passport. And he wasn't given one because a sports minister in Austria was against while the other local authorities seemed to approve it. According to Davydenko, the Austrian minister said: "It's too soon".
He and his wife Irina, a former model (m. 2006), have three children, an older daughter named Ekaterina (born 2012) and two sons — Konstantin (b. 2015) and Dmitry (b. 2017). His nephew
Philipp
Philipp is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include:
"Philipp" has also been a shortened version of Philippson, a German surname especially prevalent amongst German Jews and Dutch Jews.
Surname
* Adolf Philipp (18 ...
is a former professional tennis player and ATP/WTA coach. Davydenko speaks Russian as a native language, German as his second one, and English.
Tennis career
Early career
Davydenko started playing at the age of seven with his brother, Eduard. During his junior tennis years, he moved to Salmtal, Germany with Eduard to further improve and participate in more tournaments.
Davydenko turned professional in 1999. In 2000, he played mainly on the Futures Tour, where he captured one title and reached three finals. He made his ATP debut at
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
, reaching the semifinal. Later in August, he won his first Challenger title in
Mönchengladbach
Mönchengladbach (, ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany, west of the Rhine, halfway between Düsseldorf and the Netherlands, Dutch border.
Geography Municipal subdivisions
Since 2009, th ...
.
2001–2003
Davydenko made his Grand Slam debut in 2001 at the
Australian Open
The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, where he made it to the second round, before losing to former world no. 1, Patrick Rafter in four sets. This performance captured the public eye for his talent and ability. Later in February, he injured his lower back in
Dallas
Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
and was out for six weeks. After the injury, he came back to win two Challenger titles in Ulm and
Istanbul
Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
. He finished the season with a quarterfinal showing in
Basel
Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...
.
In 2002, Davydenko continued to play on both the
ATP Tour
The ATP Tour (known as ATP World Tour between January 2009 and December 2018) is the sole worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) founded in 1990 that replaced the earlier dual Grand Prix ...
and in Challenger events. It was a steady year with quarterfinal appearances in
Båstad
Båstad () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Båstad Municipality, Scania County, Sweden, with approximately 5,000 permanent residents. It is however one of Sweden's most typical summer resorts. The population is presumably mor ...
and
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
. During the year, he captured his fourth Challenger title in
Szczecin
Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Poland-Germany border, German border, it is a major port, seaport, the la ...
.
Davydenko made huge strides on the ATP Tour in 2003. He opened the season with his first ATP title in
Adelaide
Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...
, defeating Kristof Vliegen in the final. A few months later, he captured his second tour title in
Estoril
Estoril () is a town in the civil parish of Cascais e Estoril of the Portuguese Municipality of Cascais, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is a popular tourist destination, with hotels, beaches, and the Casino Estoril. It has been home to numero ...
on clay, beating
Agustín Calleri
Agustín Calleri (, ; born 14 September 1976) is a retired professional male tennis player from Argentina. His nickname is ''Gordo'' which means ''Fat'' in Spanish. He is known as a hard-hitter and he prefers playing on clay.
Calleri served as ...
. His season was backed up with solid performances on clay in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
and St. Pölten, reaching the quarterfinal and final, respectively. After a solid year, Davydenko finished in the top 50 for the first time in his career.
2004: Breakthrough
His progress continued in 2004, capturing two more titles for the second consecutive year. After a slow start to season, a quarterfinal in the
Monte Carlo Masters
The Monte-Carlo Masters (also known as the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters for sponsorship reasons) is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, which borders on Monaco. It is played on clay cour ...
kicked off a 10–2 matches run. A week later, he won his third title in
Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
. He backed up his win by reaching the semifinal in
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
, losing to
Guillermo Cañas
Guillermo "Willy" Ignacio Cañas (; born November 25, 1977) is an Argentine former professional tennis player and coach. He was ranked world No. 8 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved in June 2005. Cañas wo ...
. In October, he captured his first home-soil victory in Moscow by winning both the singles and doubles (partnering
Igor Andreev
Igor Valeryevich Andreev (, BGN/PCGN: ''Andreyev'', ISO 9: ''Andreev'', ; born 14 July 1983) is a Russian coach and a former professional tennis player. He won three ATP Tour singles titles, reached the quarterfinals of the 2007 French Open a ...
). He finished the season in the top 30 for the first time.
2005–2009: Peak years
2005
In 2005, he began the season by reaching the quarterfinals for the first time in a Grand Slam at the Australian Open. During the clay season, he captured his fifth career title in St. Pölten, beating home favourite,
Jürgen Melzer
Jürgen Melzer (born 22 May 1981) is an Austrian tennis coach and former professional tennis player. Melzer reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 8 in April 2011, and a doubles ranking of world No. 6 in September 2010. He has a youn ...
. He continued his solid form by reaching the semifinals of the Hamburg Masters and his first semifinal of a Grand Slam at the
French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
. In the fourth round of the French Open, he upset one of the tournament favourites and the previous year's runner-up,
Guillermo Coria
Guillermo Sebastián Coria (born 13 January 1982), nicknamed ''El Mago'' (''The Magician'' in Spanish), is an Argentine former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP world No. 3 Singles (ten ...
in four sets. This win showed just how far Davydenko had come in the last year, as Coria had beaten Davydenko with the loss of just six games in the 2004 French Open first round.
Davydenko lost in the semifinals of the 2005 French Open to
Mariano Puerta
Mariano Rubén Puerta (; born 19 September 1978) is an Argentine tennis coach and former professional player. He reached a career-high ATP world No. 9 singles ranking in August 2005. His career highlight is reaching the final of the French O ...
in five close sets. Davydenko reached the top 10 for the first time after the 2005 French Open. He closed out the year by reaching the quarterfinals at the
Cincinnati Masters
The Cincinnati Open (also known as the Cincinnati Masters) is an annual professional tennis event held in Cincinnati, United States. Due to previous sponsorship, it has also been known as: the Thriftway ATP Championships, the Great American I ...
and the
Paris Masters
The Paris Masters (formerly known as the Paris Open, and currently called the Rolex Paris Masters for sponsorship reasons) is an annual indoor tennis tournament for male professional players held in Paris, France at the Accor Arena, in the neighb ...
Shanghai
Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
for the first time and reached the semifinals, losing to
David Nalbandian
David Pablo Nalbandian (; born 1 January 1982) is an Argentine former professional tennis player. He reached his highest ranking in singles of world No. 3 in March 2006, during a career that spanned from 2000 to 2013. Nalbandian was runner-up in ...
. He finished the year as the no. 1 Russian and world no. 5.
2006
After his rapid rise into the top 5 in 2005, Davydenko continued to stay in the top 5 for 2006. He repeated his quarterfinal appearance at the Australian Open, losing to
Roger Federer
Roger Federer ( , ; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 3 ...
in four tight sets. He had another solid clay-court season, reaching the final in Estoril and the quarterfinal, at the Hamburg Masters. He defended his title in Pöertschach and reached the quarterfinal at the French Open for the second year. His form continued after an early loss at
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* W ...
with wins in
Sopot
Sopot (; or ) is a seaside resort city in Pomerelia on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland, with a population of approximately 40,000. It is located in Pomeranian Voivodeship, Pomerania Province and has the City with powiat ri ...
and his first American win in
New Haven
New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is the third largest city in Co ...
. He reached his second Grand Slam semifinal at the U.S. Open, losing to Roger Federer. He finished the season with a win in Moscow and his first career TMS title in Paris. After getting married, Davydenko helped Russia win the
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is organised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and contested annually between teams from over 150 competing countries, making it the world's largest annual ...
against
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
. He reached a career-high ranking of no. 3, with which he finished the year.
2007
2007 started with another quarterfinal appearance at the Australian Open for the third consecutive year. He was slow to find his form in the
clay court
A clay court is one of the types of tennis court on which the sport of tennis is played. Clay courts are built on a foundation of crushed stone, brick, shale, and other construction aggregate, aggregate, with a thin layer of fine clay particles ...
season, but finally did at the
Rome Masters
The Italian Open () is an annual professional tennis tournament held in Rome, Italy. It is played on clay courts at the Foro Italico, and is held during the second week of May. The tournament is part of the ATP 1000 events on the ATP Tour and ...
, losing in the semifinal to
Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal Parera (born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for ...
in an enthralling match. His good form continued, and he reached the semifinals for the second time at the French Open, losing to Roger Federer again, in straight sets. At Wimbledon, he surprised the tennis world by reaching the fourth round on his least preferred surface. Moving to the hard-court season in the US, Davydenko had strong showings in the Canada Masters and the
Cincinnati Masters
The Cincinnati Open (also known as the Cincinnati Masters) is an annual professional tennis event held in Cincinnati, United States. Due to previous sponsorship, it has also been known as: the Thriftway ATP Championships, the Great American I ...
, reaching the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively. Davydenko then reached the semifinals of the U.S. Open for the second consecutive year, before losing to Roger Federer in straight sets. He won his eleventh career title in Moscow, defeating
Paul-Henri Mathieu
Paul-Henri Mathieu (; born 12 January 1982) is a French former professional tennis player. He won four singles titles on the ATP Tour. His best singles performance in an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament was reaching the semifinals of the 2 ...
. In November, he took part in the Masters Cup, which took place in Shanghai, China. He played in the Red group round robin, losing to eventual champion
Roger Federer
Roger Federer ( , ; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 3 ...
2:0 sets, losing to
Andy Roddick
Andrew Stephen Roddick (born August 30, 1982) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 13 weeks, including as the year-end No. 1 in ...
2:1 sets, and beating Fernando Gonzales 2:0 sets, thus finishing 3rd in the group, meaning he did not reach the knockout stage. Davydenko ended the year ranked no. 4 and in the top 5 for the third straight year.
2008
Davydenko started 2008 at the
Australian Open
The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, where he was seeded fourth. He won his first three matches in straight sets, but in the fourth round he lost to countryman
Mikhail Youzhny
Mikhail Mikhailovich Youzhny (born 25 June 1982), nicknamed "Misha" and "Colonel" by his fans, is a Russian former professional tennis player who was ranked inside the top 10 and was the Russian No. 1. He achieved a top-10 ranking by the Associ ...
in straight sets. In Dubai, he reached the semifinals, losing to
Feliciano López
Feliciano López Díaz-Guerra (; born 20 September 1981) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He achieved his career-high singles ATP rankings, ranking of world No. 12 in March 2015 and doubles ranking of world No. 9 in November 2016. ...
in three sets. He then went on to win his biggest career title to date at the Miami Masters. En route to the win, he defeated
Andy Roddick
Andrew Stephen Roddick (born August 30, 1982) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 13 weeks, including as the year-end No. 1 in ...
in the semifinals and
Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal Parera (born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for ...
in the final to win his second ATP Masters Series title. His win over Roddick in the semifinals was his first victory in six matches, while his win over Nadal was his first in three matches.
Davydenko began the European clay-court season with a final appearance in his next tournament, the Estoril Open in Portugal, where he met world no. 1,
Roger Federer
Roger Federer ( , ; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 3 ...
in the final. In the second set of the final, while trailing Federer, 6–7, 2–1, Davydenko retired with a left leg injury. He then reached the semifinals of the Monte Carlo Masters. He won his thirteenth career title in Pöertschach, defeating
Juan Mónaco
Juan Mónaco (; born 29 March 1984), nicknamed "Pico", is an Argentine former professional tennis player. He won nine singles titles, reached the semifinals of the 2010 Shanghai Rolex Masters – Singles, 2010 Shanghai Masters and the 2012 Sony ...
. After a disappointing French Open, Davydenko went on to win another title, this time in Warsaw, defeating
Tommy Robredo
Tomás Robredo Garcés (, ; born 1 May 1982) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 5, which he reached in August 2006 as a result of winning the 2006 Hamburg Masters – Singles, Hamburg M ...
in the final. Appearing at the
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...
, Davydenko's stay in Beijing was brief; despite being seeded fourth at the Games, he would be upset by
Paul-Henri Mathieu
Paul-Henri Mathieu (; born 12 January 1982) is a French former professional tennis player. He won four singles titles on the ATP Tour. His best singles performance in an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament was reaching the semifinals of the 2 ...
in the second round. He did not win back-to-back matches until the US Open. At the Open, he lost in the fourth round to qualifier
Gilles Müller
Gilles Müller (; born 9 May 1983) is a Luxembourgish former professional tennis player. He is a two-time major singles quarterfinalist, making him by far the most successful male tennis player in Luxembourgish history. Müller won two titles on ...
in four sets, breaking his streak of two straight semifinals.
Davydenko reached the semifinals at the
Paris Masters
The Paris Masters (formerly known as the Paris Open, and currently called the Rolex Paris Masters for sponsorship reasons) is an annual indoor tennis tournament for male professional players held in Paris, France at the Accor Arena, in the neighb ...
, losing to
David Nalbandian
David Pablo Nalbandian (; born 1 January 1982) is an Argentine former professional tennis player. He reached his highest ranking in singles of world No. 3 in March 2006, during a career that spanned from 2000 to 2013. Nalbandian was runner-up in ...
. Davydenko qualified for the Tennis Masters Cup for the fourth consecutive year. He beat
Juan Martín del Potro
Juan Martín del Potro (; born 23 September 1988) is an Argentine former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), in August 2018. Del Potro won 22 ATP Tour-level sing ...
and
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (; born 17 April 1985) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 5 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in February 2012. Tsonga won 18 singles titles on th ...
in the round-robin matches to progress to the semifinals, where he defeated
Andy Murray
Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British former professional tennis player and coach. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professio ...
to reach the final. There he met
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Новак Ђоковић, Novak Đoković, separator=" / ", ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at N ...
, losing. Davydenko finished the year ranked no. 5 in the world and in the top 5 for the fourth consecutive year.
2009
Davydenko started the year at an exhibition in
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...
, which featured six of the world's best players. Davydenko defeated
Andy Roddick
Andrew Stephen Roddick (born August 30, 1982) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 13 weeks, including as the year-end No. 1 in ...
, before being defeated by top seed
Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal Parera (born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for ...
.
His first tour tournament was in
Chennai
Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...
, India, where he was the top seed. He defeated Daniel Köllerer in straight sets, but was forced to withdraw before his second-round match against
Lukáš Dlouhý
Lukáš Dlouhý (born 9 April 1983) is a retired professional Czech tennis player on the ATP Tour. A doubles specialist, Dlouhý reached a career-high ranking of World No. 5 in June 2009.
Career
Dlouhý has been part of two long-term doubles p ...
because of a left heel injury. This injury subsequently forced Davydenko to withdraw from the
Australian Open
The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
. In
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...
, he was defeated in the second round by
Julien Benneteau
Julien Henry Guy Benneteau-Desgrois (; born 20 December 1981) is a French retired professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 25 and doubles ranking of No. 5 in November 2014. Benneteau did not win a singles ti ...
. The injury he sustained in Chennai earlier in the year returned, forcing Davydenko to withdraw from the 1000 Series tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami. This caused his ranking to fall from no. 5 to no. 9 by April 6.
Davydenko returned to the tour after a two-month absence. In
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...
, he defeated
Ivo Karlović
Ivo Karlović (; born 28 February 1979) is a Croatian former professional tennis player. His height of 211 cm (6 ft 11 in) makes him the joint-tallest ranked tennis player in history (along with Reilly Opelka). He won eight ATP Tour si ...
and
David Nalbandian
David Pablo Nalbandian (; born 1 January 1982) is an Argentine former professional tennis player. He reached his highest ranking in singles of world No. 3 in March 2006, during a career that spanned from 2000 to 2013. Nalbandian was runner-up in ...
, before being eliminated by
Andy Murray
Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British former professional tennis player and coach. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professio ...
in the quarterfinals. In
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
, he posted back-to-back three-set wins over
Feliciano López
Feliciano López Díaz-Guerra (; born 20 September 1981) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He achieved his career-high singles ATP rankings, ranking of world No. 12 in March 2015 and doubles ranking of world No. 9 in November 2016. ...
and
Radek Štěpánek
Radek Štěpánek (; born 27 November 1978) is a Czech former professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 8 and best doubles ranking was world No. 4. Štěpánek's biggest achievements are reaching two Masters 1000 ...
. He was ousted by world no. 1
Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal Parera (born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for ...
in the semifinals. Despite his run in Barcelona, his ranking slipped out of the top 10 for the first time since May 23, 2005.
Davydenko was upset in the early rounds in
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
. Davydenko reached his second semifinal of the year in
Estoril
Estoril () is a town in the civil parish of Cascais e Estoril of the Portuguese Municipality of Cascais, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is a popular tourist destination, with hotels, beaches, and the Casino Estoril. It has been home to numero ...
by eliminating
Juan Carlos Ferrero
Juan Carlos Ferrero Donat (; born 12 February 1980) is a Spanish former professional tennis player and current coach. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Pro ...
in the second round and
Mardy Fish
Mardy Simpson Fish (born December 9, 1981) is an American former professional tennis player. He was a hardcourt specialist. He is one of several American tennis players who rose to prominence in the early 2000s.
Fish won six tournaments on the ...
in the quarterfinals, but was stopped by American James Blake. In his last tournament before the French Open, Nikolay advanced to the third round in
Madrid
Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
, before he was forced to withdraw before his match with
Andy Roddick
Andrew Stephen Roddick (born August 30, 1982) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 13 weeks, including as the year-end No. 1 in ...
due to a leg injury. He was able to play at Roland Garros and convincingly advanced to the quarterfinals. He dropped a set apiece to
Diego Junqueira
Diego Junqueira (; born December 28, 1980) is a tennis coach and former professional player from Argentina. He plays left-handed with a double-handed backhand and his highest singles rank was world no.68, achieved on March 9, 2009.
Junior career ...
and
Stanislas Wawrinka
Stanislas "Stan" Wawrinka (; born 28 March 1985) is a Swiss professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), first achieved on 27 January 2014. Wawrinka has won 16 ATP T ...
and beat eighth seed
Fernando Verdasco
Fernando Verdasco Carmona (; born 15 November 1983) is a Spaniards, Spanish tennis coach and a former professional player. He was ranked world No. 7 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, achieved in April 2009, and w ...
en route. He fell to eventual runner-up
Robin Söderling
Robin Bo Carl Söderling (; born 14 August 1984) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 4 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in November 2010. Söderling won ten singles titles on th ...
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* W ...
, before falling to
Tomáš Berdych
Tomáš Berdych (; born 17 September 1985) is a Czech former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 4 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved in May 2015. Berdych won 13 ATP Tour singles titles, i ...
for the first time. After Wimbledon, he competed in the 2009 MercedesCup as second seed, falling to
Fabio Fognini
Fabio Fognini (; born 24 May 1987) is an Italian professional tennis player. He has a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP ranking of world No. 9 achieved on 15 July 2019. Fognini's most successful surface is Clay court#Red clay, ...
Paul-Henri Mathieu
Paul-Henri Mathieu (; born 12 January 1982) is a French former professional tennis player. He won four singles titles on the ATP Tour. His best singles performance in an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament was reaching the semifinals of the 2 ...
Juan Carlos Ferrero
Juan Carlos Ferrero Donat (; born 12 February 1980) is a Spanish former professional tennis player and current coach. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Pro ...
, dropping only one set in 10 matches. Davydenko then lost to
Andy Murray
Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British former professional tennis player and coach. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professio ...
Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
, a loss which snapped a 12-match winning streak. He then lost in the third round of the 2009 Cincinnati Masters to
Gilles Simon
Gilles Simon (; born 27 December 1984) is a French former tennis player. He turned professional in 2002 and won fourteen singles titles on the ATP Tour, and attained a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 6, on 5 January 2009.
Personal li ...
Sam Querrey
Samuel Austin Querrey ( ; born October 7, 1987) is an American professional pickleball player and former tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 11 achieved on February 26, 2018, and won ten ATP singles titles. Known ...
. At the US Open, he reached the fourth round, before retiring against
Robin Söderling
Robin Bo Carl Söderling (; born 14 August 1984) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 4 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in November 2010. Söderling won ten singles titles on th ...
with a left thigh injury.
He won his third title of the year at the 2009 Malaysian Open by beating
Gaël Monfils
Gaël Sébastien Monfils (; born 1 September 1986) is a French professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 6 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved in November 2016. Mon ...
in the quarterfinals,
Robin Söderling
Robin Bo Carl Söderling (; born 14 August 1984) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 4 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in November 2010. Söderling won ten singles titles on th ...
in the semifinals, and
Fernando Verdasco
Fernando Verdasco Carmona (; born 15 November 1983) is a Spaniards, Spanish tennis coach and a former professional player. He was ranked world No. 7 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, achieved in April 2009, and w ...
in the final. Following his triumph in Malaysia, he competed in the 2009 China Open, losing in the quarterfinals to eventual runner-up
Marin Čilić
Marin Čilić (; born 28 September 1988) is a Croatian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved on 28 January 2018. Čilić has won 21 ATP Tour-level si ...
. At the Shanghai Masters 1000 event, he defeated three seeded players en route to the final, tenth seed
Fernando González
Fernando Francisco González Ciuffardi (; born 29 July 1980) is a Chilean former professional tennis player. During his career, he reached at least the quarterfinals of all four Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major tournaments. He contested hi ...
, thirteenth seed
Radek Štěpánek
Radek Štěpánek (; born 27 November 1978) is a Czech former professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 8 and best doubles ranking was world No. 4. Štěpánek's biggest achievements are reaching two Masters 1000 ...
, and second seed
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Новак Ђоковић, Novak Đoković, separator=" / ", ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at N ...
. He upset Djokovic in the semifinals. In the final, he played
Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal Parera (born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for ...
and again won in an upset.
At the ATP World Tour Finals in London, Davydenko won four of his five matches. He lost his first round-robin match to
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Новак Ђоковић, Novak Đoković, separator=" / ", ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at N ...
, but he beat Nadal in his second match. He also went on to beat the odds, defeating his group leader,
Robin Söderling
Robin Bo Carl Söderling (; born 14 August 1984) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 4 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in November 2010. Söderling won ten singles titles on th ...
to reach the semifinals. He recorded his first win over
Roger Federer
Roger Federer ( , ; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 3 ...
in 13 tries in the semifinals with a win. With the win, Davydenko advanced to his second consecutive ATP World Tour Finals final. He won by defeating
Juan Martín del Potro
Juan Martín del Potro (; born 23 September 1988) is an Argentine former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), in August 2018. Del Potro won 22 ATP Tour-level sing ...
in the final. This victory meant that he became the first Russian to win the event. The straight-set victory also meant that the winner won the event in straight sets for the fourth year in a row.
Davydenko finished the year ranked no. 6 in world and in the top 10 for the fifth consecutive year.
2010: Wrist injury
Davydenko started the year at the exhibition event in
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...
, but was defeated in the first round by
David Ferrer
David Ferrer Ern (; ; born 2 April 1982) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in July 2013. Ferrer won 27 ATP Tour singles titles, including a ...
Roger Federer
Roger Federer ( , ; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 3 ...
in the semifinal and
Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal Parera (born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for ...
in the final to claim his twentieth ATP World Tour title. With this victory in 2010, Davydenko became the second player to beat both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in the same tournament (after
Juan Martín del Potro
Juan Martín del Potro (; born 23 September 1988) is an Argentine former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), in August 2018. Del Potro won 22 ATP Tour-level sing ...
Australian Open
The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, Davydenko won his first three rounds without dropping a set, before beating Spain's
Fernando Verdasco
Fernando Verdasco Carmona (; born 15 November 1983) is a Spaniards, Spanish tennis coach and a former professional player. He was ranked world No. 7 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, achieved in April 2009, and w ...
in five sets. He eventually lost to Federer in the quarterfinal in four sets.
Davydenko then went to Rotterdam to play in the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament. He was the second seed but, in the semifinal against Sweden's
Robin Söderling
Robin Bo Carl Söderling (; born 14 August 1984) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 4 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in November 2010. Söderling won ten singles titles on th ...
Davydenko landed on his wrist, and injured it. He continued to play and lost to the eventual champion. Davydenko next appeared in the
Dubai Tennis Championships
The Dubai Tennis Championships (also known as the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships for sponsorship reasons) (formerly known for sponsorship reasons as the ''Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships'' and the ''Dubai Duty Free Men's and Women's Champ ...
Ernests Gulbis
Ernests Gulbis (, born 30 August 1988) is a Latvian former professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 10, making him the only male Latvian tennis player ever to be ranked inside the top 10, a feat achieved in June 20 ...
. Before his third-round match with Viktor Troicki of Serbia, he withdrew due to a fractured wrist. According to Davydenko, his first
MRI
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to generate pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes inside the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and rad ...
made in the Netherlands didn't allow to determine the fracture due to an
inflammation
Inflammation (from ) is part of the biological response of body tissues to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, or irritants. The five cardinal signs are heat, pain, redness, swelling, and loss of function (Latin ''calor'', '' ...
, and thus it was diagnosed only in the US. Davydenko returned to the grass court in Halle, after missing the 2010 French Open. In his first match back, he beat local player Simon Greul. He played despite his doctor's advising him against playing the tournament. However, he lost in the next round to Benjamin Becker.
He then fell in the second round of 2010 Wimbledon to
Daniel Brands
Daniel Brands (born 17 July 1987) is a German retired professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 51, achieved in August 2013.
Professional career 2008
Brands began 2008 ranked No. 220. After a few unimpressive tou ...
David Ferrer
David Ferrer Ern (; ; born 2 April 1982) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in July 2013. Ferrer won 27 ATP Tour singles titles, including a ...
, both in three sets, before falling to
Roger Federer
Roger Federer ( , ; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 3 ...
in the quarterfinals. He also reached the quarterfinals of the 2010 China Open, but failed to defend his title in the Shanghai Rolex Masters and fell out the top 10 for the first time in over a year. He then reached three consecutive quarterfinals in the 2010 Open Sud de France, 2010 Valencia Open 500, and 2010 BNP Paribas Masters. Davydenko did not qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. This was the first time he did not qualify since qualifying for the first time in 2005. He also dropped out of the top 20 for the first time in over years.
2011–2014 : Decline
2011
2011 saw a decline in Davydenko's form. His first appearance was in the Qatar Open, where he defeated
Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal Parera (born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for ...
in the semifinals, but he fell in the final to
Roger Federer
Roger Federer ( , ; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 3 ...
Florian Mayer
Florian Mayer (; born 5 October 1983) is a German former professional tennis player.
Mayer reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 18 in June 2011. Also in 2011, Mayer won his first ATP Tour title after four previous defeats in AT ...
Michaël Llodra
Michaël Llodra (; born 18 May 1980) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 3 in men's doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), winning 26 career doubles titles, including three majors and ...
and
Gilles Simon
Gilles Simon (; born 27 December 1984) is a French former tennis player. He turned professional in 2002 and won fourteen singles titles on the ATP Tour, and attained a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 6, on 5 January 2009.
Personal li ...
2011 BNP Paribas Open
The 2011 Indian Wells Open, BNP Paribas Open was a tennis tournament played at Indian Wells, California in the United States. It was the 38th edition of the men's event (23rd for the women), known as the Indian Wells Open, and was classified as ...
, he fell in the opening and second rounds to
Tomáš Berdych
Tomáš Berdych (; born 17 September 1985) is a Czech former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 4 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved in May 2015. Berdych won 13 ATP Tour singles titles, i ...
and
Stanislas Wawrinka
Stanislas "Stan" Wawrinka (; born 28 March 1985) is a Swiss professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), first achieved on 27 January 2014. Wawrinka has won 16 ATP T ...
Nicolás Almagro
Nicolás Almagro Sánchez (; born 21 August 1985 in Murcia, Spain) is a Spanish former professional tennis player of Latin American descent. He reached the quarterfinals of the French Open in 2008 French Open – Men's singles, 2008, 201 ...
.
Then, at the 2011 BMW Open tournament, he started slowly but progressively found some good form, which allowed him to eventually win the final against
Florian Mayer
Florian Mayer (; born 5 October 1983) is a German former professional tennis player.
Mayer reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 18 in June 2011. Also in 2011, Mayer won his first ATP Tour title after four previous defeats in AT ...
. This was his 21st ATP title, and it meant that he had won at least one ATP-tour title for nine straight years and returned him back into the top 30 in the rankings. This was, however, his only final of the year and he failed to progress past the third round in any Grand Slam or Masters tournament, although his defeat at the US Open, came to world number one
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Новак Ђоковић, Novak Đoković, separator=" / ", ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at N ...
in straight sets after victories in the first two rounds against
Ivan Dodig
Ivan Dodig (; born 2 January 1985) is a Croatian professional tennis player who specializes in doubles. He reached his career-high doubles ranking of World No. 2 in September 2023.
He is a seven-time Grand Slam champion, having won men's double ...
Davydenko lost in the first round of the Australian Open to Flavio Cipolla in five sets and the first round of Roland Garros, to
Andreas Seppi
Andreas Seppi (born 21 February 1984) is an Italian former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 18 on 28 January 2013. He became the first Italian to win a title on all three surfaces.
Personal lif ...
. He played World No. 4,
Andy Murray
Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British former professional tennis player and coach. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professio ...
, in the first round of the 2012 Wimbledon Championships, and was defeated easily. Davydenko did slightly better at the US Open, winning his first-round match against Argentinian
Guido Pella
Guido Pella (; born 17 May 1990) is an Argentine former professional tennis player. In August 2019, Pella reached his career best world No. 20 in singles. In July 2019, he peaked at No. 55 in doubles.
Personal life
His father, Carlos, taught hi ...
but losing in the second round to local
Mardy Fish
Mardy Simpson Fish (born December 9, 1981) is an American former professional tennis player. He was a hardcourt specialist. He is one of several American tennis players who rose to prominence in the early 2000s.
Fish won six tournaments on the ...
in five sets. The collective results represented Davydenko's worst performance at the Grand Slams in a single year.
Examining the year overall, Davydenko started poorly with a first-round loss in
Doha
Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...
(to world no. 3
Roger Federer
Roger Federer ( , ; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 3 ...
) and a second-round defeat in
Montpellier
Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...
during January, in addition to his early exit in Australia. February started well with Davydenko reaching the semi-finals of the indoor tournament in
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...
, only to be defeated by Federer again. Davydenko's other best results were reaching the semi-final of the clay court tournament in
Nice
Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionBrian Baker of the USA, ranked 216 at the time; Davydenko also reached the semi-final of the indoor tournament in
Metz
Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...
in September, losing to
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (; born 17 April 1985) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 5 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in February 2012. Tsonga won 18 singles titles on th ...
in three sets.
In July 2012 Davydenko represented the
Russian Federation
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* W ...
. In the men's singles competition Davydenko won his first-round match against
Radek Štěpánek
Radek Štěpánek (; born 27 November 1978) is a Czech former professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 8 and best doubles ranking was world No. 4. Štěpánek's biggest achievements are reaching two Masters 1000 ...
of the
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...
but lost in the second round to Japan's
Kei Nishikori
is a Japanese professional tennis player. He is the only Japanese man in the Open Era to have been ranked in the top five in singles, reaching his career-high ranking of world No. 4 in March 2015, and the second man in history to do so after ...
. Davydenko paired with
Mikhail Youzhny
Mikhail Mikhailovich Youzhny (born 25 June 1982), nicknamed "Misha" and "Colonel" by his fans, is a Russian former professional tennis player who was ranked inside the top 10 and was the Russian No. 1. He achieved a top-10 ranking by the Associ ...
in the Olympics men's doubles; they won their first-round match over Germany (
Philipp Petzschner
Philipp Petzschner (born 24 March 1984) is a retired German professional tennis player. He was known for his hard-hitting forehand and backhand slices. He reached a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 9, which he achieved in April 2011.
Car ...
and Christopher Kas) but lost a tight match in the second round to eventual gold medallists Bob and Mike Bryan of the USA.
Davydenko's final tournament appearance of 2012 was the indoor in
Basel, Switzerland
Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's third-most-populous city (after Zurich and Geneva), with ...
in late October, where he lost in the second round to
Paul-Henri Mathieu
Paul-Henri Mathieu (; born 12 January 1982) is a French former professional tennis player. He won four singles titles on the ATP Tour. His best singles performance in an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament was reaching the semifinals of the 2 ...
. Overall, Davydenko entered 25 tournaments in 2012 and finished with a 24-23 record, winning $498,941 in prizemoney. He finished 2012 with an ATP singles ranking of 44, down from 41 at the start of 2012.
2013
Davydenko started his 2013 season by reaching the finals of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in January after defeating Spain's David Ferrer (then ranked 5 in the world) in the semifinals. He then took on Richard Gasquet, the world number 10, in the final, eventually losing in 3 sets. He would later appear at the French Open, reaching the third round before being knocked out by Gasquet in straight sets.
He ended the year in rank No. 53.
2014: Retirement
In the 2014 season, Davydenko failed to win consecutively. He lost to Daniel Brands in the first round of the Qatar Open. He was beaten by
Richard Gasquet
Richard Gabriel Cyr Gasquet (; born 18 June 1986) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 7 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, attained in July 2007. Gasquet won 16 singles ...
in the second round of the Australian Open. In Montpellier, Davydenko defeated world no.39
Julien Benneteau
Julien Henry Guy Benneteau-Desgrois (; born 20 December 1981) is a French retired professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 25 and doubles ranking of No. 5 in November 2014. Benneteau did not win a singles ti ...
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (; born 17 April 1985) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 5 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in February 2012. Tsonga won 18 singles titles on th ...
John Isner
John Robert Isner (born April 26, 1985) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 8 in singles and No. 14 in doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Considered one of the best servers ...
. In the
2014 Sony Open Tennis
The 2014 Sony Open Tennis (also known as 2014 Miami Masters) was a professional men and women's tennis tournament played on outdoor hardcourt, hard courts. It was the 30th edition of the Miami Masters, and was part of the ATP World Tour Masters 1 ...
first round, he was defeated by Adrian Mannarino.
Davydenko began his clay court season with a first round loss to
Albert Ramos Viñolas
Albert Ramos Viñolas (; born 17 January 1988) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 17, achieved in May 2017 after reaching the final of the 2017 Monte Carlo Masters.
Career
Juniors
R ...
at the Barcelona Open. At BMW Open, he was defeated by Federico Delbonis. He won his first clay court match of the season at the Düsseldorf Open by defeating
Dudi Sela
David "Dudi" Sela (; born 4 April 1985) is an Israeli former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of World No. 29 in July 2009.
Sela won the French Open 2003 junior doubles title. Representing Israel Davis Cup te ...
before losing to Jiri Vesely second round. After losing the first round of the 2014 French Open, he skipped the grass court season to decide whether he would retire or not. Sources close to the Russian Davis Cup team and tennis federation said that Davydenko had decided to retire and that he would be honoured with a farewell ceremony at that year's Kremlin Cup. On October 16, Davydenko confirmed these rumors by announcing his retirement at a press conference in Moscow.
Playing style
Davydenko employed an offensive baseline game, using deep and penetrating groundstrokes on both wings. His groundstrokes were technically efficient on both forehand and backhand. His tremendous footspeed and anticipation enabled him to hit the ball early which caught opponents out of position and allowed him to dictate the play, somewhat similar to former world no. 1
Andre Agassi
Andre Kirk Agassi ( ; born April 29, 1970) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 101 ...
. Davydenko's best shot was his backhand, which he could hit down the line, cross court, or with extreme angles. He was known for his running shots which he took early and often turned into winners. His serve was technically correct and very consistent, even though it lacked the fire-power to become a serious weapon. Davydenko's style made him an effective player on any surface, however he was most successful on hard and clay courts, as he had not made any significant breakthroughs on grass.
Davydenko's main weaknesses were his volleys, and his occasional inability to close out matches. His volleys were not as consistent as his groundstrokes, though he did have one of the best swinging volleys on tour. Many tennis analysts also criticized Davydenko for lacking variation in his game due to the fact that he mainly played from the baseline with his consistent groundstrokes. In the later years of his career, he varied his game by employing the slice and moving into the net more often. Davydenko's difficulty closing matches lost him numerous important matches after holding the lead. This was evident during the 2006 Tennis Masters Cup against James Blake and
Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal Parera (born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for ...
where he won the first set and had the lead in the second, but lost. Against
Roger Federer
Roger Federer ( , ; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 3 ...
, he blew a lead at the 2006 and 2010 Australian Opens as well as at the 2007 French Open. In the 2006 Australian Open, he had three set points in the third to go up 2 sets to 1, but lost the set and eventually the match.
Equipment
Beginning mid-2010, he began using Dunlop Sport racquets and was using the Dunlop Biomimetic 200 Plus. However, in the beginning of 2012, he stopped the contract with Dunlop and returned to using the Prince Ozone Pro Tour.
At the 2014 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells California, Davydenko was playing with a Babolat AeroPro Drive GT.
Davydenko wore Asics shoes and clothing towards the end of his career. His previous brand was Airness.
Controversies
In January 2007, Davydenko was fined AU$10,000 and apologised to
Sydney International
The Sydney International (formerly known as the Championship of New South Wales and New South Wales Open, with various title sponsors), formerly sponsored as the Apia International Sydney from 2012 to 2017, was a professional tennis tournament ...
organisers after criticising the tournament for being "too small" and withdrawing from the tournament due to injury.
The ATP launched a
match fixing
In organized sports, match fixing (also known as game fixing, race fixing, throwing, rigging, hippodroming, or more generally sports fixing) is the act of playing or officiating a contest with the intention of achieving a predetermined result, v ...
Sopot
Sopot (; or ) is a seaside resort city in Pomerelia on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland, with a population of approximately 40,000. It is located in Pomeranian Voivodeship, Pomerania Province and has the City with powiat ri ...
of 2 August 2007, after several large bets were placed at an online British gambling company,
Betfair
Betfair is a British Gambling, gambling company founded in 2000. Its product offering includes betting exchange, sports betting, online casino, online poker, and online bingo. Business operations are led from its headquarters in London, alongsi ...
, in Argüello's favour after Davydenko had won the first set 6–2. Davydenko withdrew from the match during the third set with a foot injury. Although Davydenko had suffered three first-round defeats in his last three tournaments, was injured in an earlier-round match, and showed signs of injury in the second set, it did not make sense to Betfair that such a heavy betting volume would go in Argüello's direction at that point of time in the match. Per its agreement with the ATP,
Betfair
Betfair is a British Gambling, gambling company founded in 2000. Its product offering includes betting exchange, sports betting, online casino, online poker, and online bingo. Business operations are led from its headquarters in London, alongsi ...
notified the Tour. It has since been revealed that nine people based in Russia had bet US$1.5M on Davydenko losing while two unknown people would gain US$6M from the loss. A total of $7M was wagered on the match, ten times the usual amount. Due to these irregularities, all bets were voided. On September 11, 2008, Davydenko, along with Argüello, were cleared of any involvement in match-fixing. The inquiry, which lasted over a year, was the longest ever held into match-fixing in tennis.
Further controversy also surrounded Davydenko after one of his matches at St. Petersburg Open in October 2007. During his 6–1, 5–7, 1–6 defeat by Marin Čilić, he was given a code violation by umpire Jean-Philippe Dercq for not giving his best effort. He was later fined $2000 by the ATP, but the fine was rescinded upon appeal. The following week, he lost 2–6, 2–6 to
Marcos Baghdatis
Marcos Baghdatis (Greek language, Greek: Μάρκος Παγδατής, Arabic language, Arabic: ماركوس بغداتيس); born 17 June 1985 is a Greek Cypriot former professional tennis player and coach. He was the runner-up at the 2006 Aus ...
at the
Paris Masters
The Paris Masters (formerly known as the Paris Open, and currently called the Rolex Paris Masters for sponsorship reasons) is an annual indoor tennis tournament for male professional players held in Paris, France at the Accor Arena, in the neighb ...
. This generated some controversy, as Davydenko was cautioned by the umpire to do his best during the match.