Davydenko Cruises In U.S. Opener
POSTED: 2:11 pm PDT August 27,
2008
Flushing Meadows, NY -- (Sports Network) - Russian star Nikolay Davydenko was an easy first-round winner Wednesday at the 2008 U.S. Open.The fifth-seeded Davydenko drubbed Israeli Dudi Sela 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Davydenko, who played in the semifinals here in each of the previous two years, will meet capable Argentine Agustin Calleri in the second round. Eighteenth-seeded Spaniard Nicolas Almagro reached the round of 64 with a 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 victory over Canada's Frank Dancevic, while 19th-seeded Frenchman Jo- Wilfried Tsonga came from behind to best Spain's Santiago Ventura 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 in his first match since May, and 26th-seeded Russian Dmitry Tursunov snuck past Argentine Eduardo Schwank 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5). The oft-injured Tsonga was January's Australian Open runner-up to Novak Djokovic and had been sidelined with a knee injury the past three months. Former U.S. Open semifinalist Robby Ginepri eased into the second round with a 6-1, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) victory over fellow unseeded American Amer Delic, while former world No. 1 Carlos Moya held off Pakistan's Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-2), 6-2. The former French Open champion Moya, who reached the quarterfinals in Flushing last year, will meet Tsonga in an intriguing second-rounder. Additional Day-3 wins came for American wild card Sam Warburg, Romanian Victor Hanescu and Calleri, who whipped American Austin Krajicek 6-2, 6-2, 6-1. The U.S. Open marks the fourth and final major of the year.
Copyright 2008 Courtesy of The Sports Network.












