 Davydenko suffered the injury when he fell in training |
Nikolay Davydenko could miss Russia's Davis Cup tie with India after being forced to pull out of the Dubai Championships with a wrist injury. The Russian struggled through Tuesday's first-round match before pulling out of his second-round match with Michael Berrer after losing the first set 6-3. "I thought about quitting before the match, but in practice I was OK. A match is different though," he said. "It was too much for me, it gets too risky now, and it's better to retire." Second seed Novak Djokovic survived a minor scare before seeing off fellow Serb Viktor Troicki 3-6 6-4 6-2, but it was the exit of ATP World Tour champion Davydenko that really grabbed the headlines. "I wasn't happy with the performance overall. But I won, that's what matters," said Djokovic. "He was a better player for a set and a half. I think this is one of the rare tournaments that you really feel a big, big difference between the day match and night match.  | 606: DEBATE |
"The balls go really much faster, and as soon as the shade came on the court, I felt more control over my game." Davydenko had complained of discomfort after his three-set win over Florent Serra on Tuesday, but was clearly in more pain against Berrer. He frequently over-hit the ball, suffered an early break of serve to go 3-1 down and was unable to break back against the powerful left-hander. When Davydenko netted a high backhand volley, it was clear he was struggling and was not fit to carry on. "I thought I could win anyway," said world number 56 Berrer. "At the moment I am self-confident. My way of playing hurts a lot of guys." In the last eight, the German will play former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis, after he beat Indian qualifier Somdev Devvarman 6-3 3-6 6-1. Sixth seed Marian Cilic came back from 6-3 down in a second-set tie-breaker to defeat Austrian qualifier Stefan Koubek 6-2 7-6. But there was more success for another Austrian, Juergen Melzer, who beat Spain Tommy Robredo 6-3 7-5. Seventh seed Mikhail Youzhny of Russia defeated Germany's Bjoern Phau 7-2 6-4, and Ivan Ljubicic beat fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-5 6-3.
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