The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Baghdatis knocks out Davydenko

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Friday, Nov 02, 2007
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Baghdatis knocks out Davydenko

Federer downs Karlovic; Nalbandian dashes Moya’s hopes

Paris: Marcos Baghdatis defeated defending champion Nikolay Davydenko 6-2, 6-2 on Thursday to reach the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters.

Davydenko had 10 double faults and managed to win only 13 percent of the points on second serve. The fourth-seeded Russian had complained of being hampered by a sore elbow after his second round win on Wednesday.

Baghdatis remains an outside chance for the season-ending event starting a week from Sunday after his victory, which gives him a Paris quarterfinal against Spaniard Tommy Robredo, who beat Guillermo Canas of Argentina 7-5, 7-5.

Britain’s Andy Murray meanwhile took a step closer to qualifying for the season-ending event in China after beating Frenchman Fabrice Santoro 6-4, 6-2.

Ivo Karlovic broke Roger Federer’s serve for the first time in his life, but couldn’t stop the Swiss juggernaut from rolling into the third round on Wednesday.

Croatian Karlovic, the tallest man in tennis at 2.08 metres, went down 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 as World No. 1 Federer played for the first time at the Bercy event since 2003.

Breaking back

But the Swiss top seed got straight back in harness, breaking to start the final set and rolling ahead against a man he had just beaten days earlier in the Basel semifinals.

The match was the first between the pair that did not feature a tie-break.

“It’s not easy to break his serve,” said Federer, who did it three times. “I had to take my chances. At the end it was the perfect ending for me.

Federer, who won his seventh title of the season on Sunday, next plays Argentine threat David Nalbandian, who defeated him for the Madrid Masters last month.

Nalbandian put Spain’s Carlos Moya out of the race for the season-ending Masters Cup with a 6-4, 6-4 win.

Vaidisova eliminated

At Quebec City (Canada), top seed Nicole Vaidisova was eliminated from the WTA Bell Challenge when she was forced to retire after the second set of her first round match against compatriot Renata Voracova.

World No. 12 Vaidisova was tied 6-2, 3-6 in her match with Voracova when she suffered an injury to her right wrist.

The results: At Paris: Paris Masters: Third round: Marcos Baghdatis bt Nikolay Davydenko 6-2, 6-2; Andy Murray bt Fabrice Santoro 6-4, 6-2; Tommy Robredo bt Guillermo Canas 7-5, 7-5; Rafael Nadal bt Stanislas Wawrinka 6-4, 6-3.

Second round: Roger Federer bt Ivo Karlovic 6-3, 4-6, 6-3; David Nalbandian bt Carlos Moya 6-4, 6-4; Richard Gasquet bt Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-5, 7-6(3); Baghdatis bt Ivan Ljubicic 6-4, 7-6(4); Rafael Nadal bt Filippo Volandri 6-3, 6-1.

At Quebec City: WTA Bell Challenge: Second round: Olga Govortsova bt Alina Jidkova 6-3, 5-0 (retid.); Julia Vakulenko bt Stephanie Dubois 6-1, 2-6, 7-5; Vera Zvonareva bt Severine Bremond 6-3, 7-6(6).

First round: Renata Voracova bt Nicole Vaidisova 2-6, 6-3 (retd.); Maret Ani bt Andreja Klepac 6-2, 2-6, 6-1; Sofia Arvidsson bt Meilen Tu 6-2, 6-2; Julie Ditty bt Alize Cornet 7-5, 6-3. — Agencies

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