ATP World Tour No. 8 Nikolay Davydenko dismissed the challenge of France’s Arnaud Clement 7-6(2), 6-2 on Wednesday to secure his place in the third round of the Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell, an ATP World Tour 500 clay-court tennis tournament.
The third-seeded Davydenko saved five break points in a tight first set before clinching a one-set lead by winning the tie-break 7-2. The Russian then stepped up a gear in the second set and converted two of six break points to wrap up victory and improve to a 4-0 career lead over Clement in one hour and 56 minutes.
The 27-year-old Davydenko made his comeback from a foot injury by reaching the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters quarter-finals (l. to Murray) last week and is looking to build on his comeback at a venue where he has enjoyed success on previous visits. The right-hander reached the semi-finals (l. to Ferrero) at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona in 2005 and advanced to the quarter-finals in 2003 (l. to Moya) and 2007 (W/O vs. Canas).
Czech No. 15 seed Tomas Berdych was tested by Spain’s Oscar Hernandez before prevailing 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 to reach the third round in Barcelona for the first time in three visits. The 28th-ranked Monte-Carlo resident improved to 9-8 on the season, highlighted by fourth-round showings at the Australian Open (l. to Federer in five sets) and ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami (l. to Djokovic).
(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/TENNIS/1/EN/NEWS/NEWSARTICLE_3302.ASP)
