My tip Nikolay Davydenko retired at 2-1 up in the second set in the final of the Estoril Open.
This is a disappointing outcome for this match particularly as the Russian was playing so well and a break up. He looked uncomfortable towards the end of the first set and I suspected that he may be about to retire. In the post match interview he did not sight a reason however he had been having trouble with his groin earlier in the week due to playing so many matches this year.
It was a very even match and Federer sneaked a first set tie break by 7 points to 5 but was then broken in the first game of the second set after some strong hitting by Davydenko.
Despite losing, Davydenko won 56 out of 111 points and Federer won 55 out of 111 and had the world number four been fit I think he would have gone on to win.
Credit must be given to Davydenko for playing despite not being 100 percent and he certainly put up a good fight with Federer failing to break his serve.
9 responses so far ↓
Tim // April 20, 2008 at 8:06 pm |
Feds was lucky Davy retired, however, i do think federer would have gone on to win the match, due to his vast experience at this level. Davydenko must have had a good reason to retire though, if your playing so well and giving feds a run for his money, he must have thought the injury to be quite severe; and the last thing he wants is to be injured for the next month or so.
james williams // April 20, 2008 at 8:19 pm |
tim you say ‘ federers vast experience at this level’. i think every player in the top 10 has a fair amount of experience at the highest level. davydenko has been on form the last few weeks and i think had he not retired this match would have been very close. its annoying davy pulled out
Tim // April 20, 2008 at 8:47 pm |
james williams dont counter my comment in that fashion lol. i meant mental experience, clearly you havent ever attended a matchplay. Mental ability is everything in tennis and federer clearly has a lot of it, which is why i would put a grand on him winning wimbledon this year. 6/0 6/0
Tim – undefeated @ 7.2 & 7.1
stepney88 // April 20, 2008 at 9:00 pm |
Davy should be feeling really annoyed right now, i reckon Feds would have struggled to take victory from the most in form tennis player in the whole wide world at this moment in time. (Apart from Sir. Tom Brown of course)
james williams // April 20, 2008 at 11:09 pm |
Tim all I am saying is how can you disregard the mental strength of Davydenko. The form player at the moment is Davy so surely he would be more mentally positive than Federer who would have been thinking ‘when am I going to win my first title this year?’ My tennis experience is vast by the way – I’m currently coaching at a club.
mjweatherup // April 20, 2008 at 11:36 pm |
I agree to a certain extent that Federer would have a better mental ability in finals compared with any other current player as he has been in the most and obviously won many titles. However on this occasion I felt Davydenko had the better chance of winning as he had been playing the better tennis over the last few weeks whereas Federer has struggled. Therefore Davydenko would have been in the better frame of mind. The retirement is disappointing but Davy must be a bit fatigued having won 11 matches in row.
stepney88 // April 21, 2008 at 9:37 pm |
“Davy must be a bit fatigued having won 11 matches in row.”
Rubbish mate! he would have wanted to carry on that game, he’s in the form of his life! I reckon Davs would have even beaten the late great Goran Ivanisivic if they had played each other…
mjweatherup // April 21, 2008 at 10:06 pm |
Goran is still alive!
Of course he wanted to carry on, but the physical toll of playing 3 weeks solid tennis is going to show at some point…
Tennis Court Equipment // April 28, 2008 at 12:07 am |
Clearly you havent ever attended a matchplay. Mental ability is everything in tennis and federer clearly has a lot of it