Becker capitalises on Davydenko off-day
Tuesday, 24 June 2008
Written by Michael Burke
Beck to the future
c Prosport / T. Hindley
Fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko became the biggest casualty of The
Championships so far, going down 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to the steady German Benjamin
Becker.
This was the Russian’s fifth first-round defeat in seven years and it came
largely due to a misfiring serve, which Becker broke twice in the first set.
Standing firm at the baseline, Becker was able to dictate the points,
overpowering his opponent with his big forehand. Davydenko, meanwhile, could
not shrug off his shaky serve syndrome and was also lacking in the returns
department.
The first set whizzed by in 17 minutes, Becker sailing to a 5-1 lead before
the Russian salvaged some respect by making the German serve the set out. But
when you are only winning 44 per cent of your first serve and second serve
points at this level you are creating a whole heap of trouble for yourself.
Davydenko’s body language suggested he would rather be somewhere else after
such an embarrassing start. Full credit to Becker, on the other hand, who
capitalised on an off-day for the number four seed on a surface he usually
struggles on.
In the third game of the second set, Becker forced Davydenko to deuce and
narrowly missed out on the opportunity to pounce on another drop in the
Russian’s usually exceptionally high serving standards.
Becker was following a simple, aggressive game plan that another B Becker
used so well during his time at Wimbledon, making it even more improbable
that Davydenko would be given the opportunity to engage in the long baseline
battles that has established him as a top-five player for the past four
years.
The match was slipping and sliding away from Davydenko as Becker continued to
maintain a high all-round standard, hitting winners on both sides of the
court and keeping the rallies short with high-octane tennis.
After such a poor start, the odds were against Davydenko managing to impose
himself and get back in the game, and that is exactly what happened. The
Russian’s serve improved briefly before the net cords and double faults
resurfaced and the German raced to an unexpected two-set lead.
If the number four seed was going to go through now, he would have to do it
in five sets. But it was Becker who was in charge and he continued to
dominate with his serve and forehand, the final nail in the coffin coming in
the third game of the final set when Davydenko threw away another service
game, and with it ultimately, the match.