It could've been the first of two matches for David today but it ended up being his last one at Monte Carlo. After two and a half hours and 13 breaks, it was Nikolay Davydenko who eventually prevailed 6-4, 5-7, 6-3.
The match took place on an untelevised court but even just looking at the scoreboard it became clear that David's biggest problem in this match was once again his serve. Even though his first serve percentage improved as the match went on (just like in the two previous matches), he was once more unable to hold serve at important moments or to build decisive leads after breaking Davydenko.
In the first set, David went up a break twice (for 2-1 and 3-2), and twice he surrendered his own serve immediately afterwards. At 4-3 for Davydenko, David saved 4 break points in one game. But only to get broken when it really mattered, i.e. when he was serving to stay in the set.
In the second set, they stayed on serve until David broke Davydenko for a 3-2 lead. And this time, he managed to consolidate the break, 4-2. At 4-3, David again saved 4 break points in one game and went up 5-3. After Davydenko's hold for 5-4, David had the chance to serve out the set. - And once again he got broken at that very moment (not making a single first serve in that game as far as I recall). 5-5. But instead of moving ahead now, Davydenko lost his serve to love, granting David a second chance to serve for the set. And this time, David took it, converting his first set point.
The third set began with a break for David and another immediate re-break for Davydenko. David broke again to go up 3-2 - and then didn't win another game for the rest of the match. How he managed to do that I cannot say. Maybe he grew tired towards the end.
I can only hope that Luis Lobo will address the serve problem and work on it with David. About his nerves on court, there's little Lobo can do, of course. But a more stable technique would probably also do wonders for the nerves...
Match Stats...
1st serve: 50% (set 1: 44%, set 2: 52%, set 3: 53%)
Aces: 5
DFs: 6
BP Conversion: 6/14
Points won on 1st serve: 64%
Points won on 2nd serve: 38%
(All pictures: AP Photo)
4 comments:
It was predictable : David did not play well vs PHM and Granollers so his loss vs Davydenko came as no surprise. Hope he can stop doing those silly DF...it's i big problem to solve because it gets on David's nerve. Good luck for Barcelona. David is Seed n°8 (Monfils withdrew) so he will not have a first round to play.
I agree totally with your comments on David's serve, Julia, he really needs to sort this out to have any chance of going deep in tournaments.
I have mixed feelings about the loss though: he matched his seeding; he lost to a higher ranked player and he managed to take a set, so it's not all bad. And I'm kind of glad he's not having to play again today after that marathon, though I am dying to see him meet Murray again. The wait continues...
True, tennisace, if David struggled with those lesser players it was to be expected that Davydenko would prove too much.
However, I agree with joyce63 that David still performed well given the challenge. He didn't hand this victory to Davydenko on a plate, that's for sure. And either way, it's no surprise that Murray cruised through his quarterfinal and into the semis.
He didn't play well in his first two matches but it's not like he was without a chance in this one. He could've won it, had his serve been more consistent. Which is the really frustrating part.
Of course, it's okay to lose to Davydenko. Even to a Davydenko who played his second match after pausing for 3 months. And it's good that David at least made it really difficult for him.
But serving like that he's not going to get very far at any of the upcoming tournaments.
Even if he gets a first round bye at Barcelona. (Which is good news; thanks, tennisace.)
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