Djokovic and Davydenko do well in Shanghai
November 9th 2008 22:34
World number three Novak Djokovic and Russia's Nikolay Davydenko scrapped to hard-fought wins as the elite Tennis Masters Cup got off to a pulsating start on Sunday.
Djokovic saw off a spirited challenge from Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro 7-5, 6-3 before Davydenko came from a set down to edge Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-7 (6/8), 6-4, 7-6 (7/0) in the opening round-robin matches.
Djokovic prevailed in a tight first set and earned a crucial break late in the second for his maiden Masters Cup success after losing all three group matches last year.
Sporting a flashy black and gold outfit to match the glitzy occasion, the Australian Open champion soon had the measure of del Potro's big serve and whipped a forehand on his third break point for a 3-1 lead in the first.
The Serb was starting to enjoy himself and he consolidated at 4-1, helped by a fabulous backhand drop that landed just inside the line and spun out at a right angle.
The six-foot-six (1.93-metre) del Potro hit back with a break at 5-3 but slammed his racquet to the ground in frustration as he gave up the set by netting after a long rally at 5-6.
Del Potro, 20, who has been playing with a painful toe injury since the US Open, produced two memorable backhand passes to go a break up in the second but was broken back immediately as he twice netted on the same wing.
Djokovic sprayed two backhands of his own and then looped a forehand past the advancing del Potro to break for 5-3, converting the first match point as his opponent netted.
In the later match, Paris Masters champion Tsonga saved early break points to force a first-set tie-break, in which he acrobatically hurdled the net and flashed a 220 kilometre (136 mile) per hour serve before taking it 8-6.
The two exchanged breaks early in the second and Tsonga, the Australian Open runner-up, produced a leaping forehand volley as he saved three more break points at 2-3.
But Davydenko buried a winner on break and set point at 5-4, with Hawkeye confirming he clipped the baseline to level the match at one set each.
As Tsonga tired, Davydenko broke immediately in the third set and looked on course for a quick finish until the French world number seven produced an audacious drop shot to save match point on his own serve.
He then bamboozled Davydenko with another backhand drop to break for 5-4 and whistled a second-serve ace past the Russian to level it 5-5 and pump up the Chinese crowd.
Tsonga was in the ascendancy but the renaissance came juddering to a halt in the decisive tie-breaker as he double-faulted and committed a series of errors to implode 0-7.
The 'fifth Grand Slam' is making a fourth and final appearance at Shanghai's state-of-the-art Qi Zhong Stadium before moving to London as the ATP World Tour Final.
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