Rusedski misses out on chance to usurp Henman
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference."There wasn't much happening for me today," Rusedski said. "I really felt like I could not get through him at all and I did not feel like I played as well as I could. But I give him credit, he played extremely well. He must have made three or four unforced errors for the whole match. He returned very well and I should have served better."
Rusedski lost the first set in 24 minutes after being broken twice by Davydenko, who will need to reach the final here to book his ticket to the end-of-season Shanghai Masters later this month. He lost his serve in the third game following a missed volley, and then blew a chance to fight back and take his rival's serve to level when his forehand return went wide. Davydenko broke him again to take a comfortable 5-2 lead before serving out the set.
The second set proved just as difficult for Rusedski, who was unable to recapture the form which saw him beat Italy's Andreas Seppi in straight sets in the first round on Monday. Having conceded the first game of the second set, Rusedski threw his racket down in anger when his forehand went out.
Rusedski's golden chance to reverse his fortunes was in the seventh game when he had three opportunities to break Davydenko but he missed them all.
"Davydenko was very motivated obviously," Rusedski added. "The way tennis is nowadays with the courts and the balls slowing down makes him a very dangerous rival.
"He takes the ball very early and if you don't get the first hit in, you are the one who is going to be doing all the running. He is dictating and holding the ball very, very well. It was also a losing battle for me staying back because he is obviously so good from the back. But then when I came forward I was getting passed. So then I tried to figure out something to mix up.
"But from the three options, I did not know which one to take. Whichever one I chose was the wrong one."
Davydenko broke Rusedski again and then served out for the match, converting match-point with a powerful forehand.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments