Translated material
In a Russian trap
Tursunov’s offender could not beat Davydenko
The second week of play at the Australian Open began with the two top-rated Russian tennis players reaching the quarterfinals of the singles tournament. Maria Sharapova defeated her compatriot Vera Zvonareva, Nikolay Davydenko beat our offender Dmitry Tursunov in the previous round match, Czech Tomas Berdych - 5:7, 6:4, 6:1, 7:6 (7:5). The 2006 Kremlin Cup winner Anna Chakvetadze, who has not known defeat for nine official matches in a row, also had a successful match. The Muscovite defeated the Swiss representative Patti Schneider in exactly one hour - 6:4, 6:1.“Seeded” on the Green Continent as number three, Davydenko invariably won in four previous meetings with Berdych, whose highest career achievement was success at the 2005 Paris Masters. Yesterday the Russian managed to preserve this pleasant tradition. The match was played in the third most important arena of the Melbourne Tennis Complex, where the hawk's eye ball detection system does not work. For now, big racket masters can only use the services of Hawk Eye on the center courts of competitions. During the meeting, controversial issues arose several times, and the rivals' dissatisfaction was quite justified. The linesmen performed their duties poorly, although they more often made mistakes in favor of the Russian.
In the middle of the opening set, Berdych made the first break, won a point on his serve and led 5:2. Something inexplicable happened to the Czech in the ninth game - he managed to make three double faults in a row. Tomas could only complain about the supposedly poor quality of the balls. Davydenko restored equality, but the set still remained with his opponent. The Russian demonstrated amazing composure at the end of the second game. Leading 5:4 and serving for the set, he lost three goals in a row, but fought off all the break points and clearly unsettled the Czech. A disgruntled Berdych frankly failed the next part of the match.
Tomas had a good chance to drag out the confrontation as long as possible. In the tiebreaker of the fourth game, having previously saved himself from three match points, he led 5:4 and was entitled to two serves, but during both plays he made inaccurate shots - into the net and out of bounds. After the Czech hit the rope again, Nikolai put an end to the match with a lethal serve.
This morning, Moscow time, two men's quarterfinals will be held: Americans Mardie Fish and Andy Roddick will play in one, and Roger Federer (Switzerland) and Tommy Robredo (Spain) will play in the other. Davydenko will take to the court tomorrow and he will meet with the German Tommy Haas, who beat the Argentinean David Nalbandian yesterday - 4:6, 6:3, 6:2, 6:3. The score of the personal relationship between the Russian and the German tennis player is 2:0 in favor of Nikolai. Their last game was in the quarterfinals of last year's US Open. Davydenko then won a strong-willed victory, losing the first two games.
Sharapova will play the Russian for the second time in a row on Wednesday. Let us remind you that at the last Kremlin Cup, Maria was supposed to play with Chakvetadze in the quarter finals and, completely unexpectedly for the organizers and fans, she abandoned this match, citing an injury to her right leg. In yesterday's match with Zvonareva, Maria spent a long time in the role of catching up and promptly scored a break with the score 5:5 in the first game. In the second set, Sharapova immediately took the lead, maintaining a two-game lead. The winner actively and in most cases effectively approached the net, showing combat tennis.
Chakvetadze, despite the unsuccessful start to the meeting with Schneider (1:4), was able to turn the tide of the match, then winning seven games in a row. Anna set a personal record for performances at Grand Slam tournaments, because until Monday she could only boast of participating in the fourth round of the last US Open.