Nikolay Davydenko

At 43 years old, Nikolay Davydenko has this physical status:

Nikolay Vladimirovich Davydenko (born 2 June 1981) is a Russian former professional tennis player.

He achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 3 in November 2006.

Davydenko's best result in a Grand Slam tournament was reaching the semi-finals, which he accomplished on four occasions: twice each at the French Open and the U.S. Open, losing to Roger Federer in all but one of them.

His biggest achievement was winning the 2009 ATP World Tour Finals, and he also won three ATP Masters Series.

In mid-October 2014 Davydenko retired from competitions.

Personal life

Nikolay was born on June 2, 1981, in Sievierodonetsk, at that time Severodonetsk, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union, in the family of Vladimir and Tatiana Davydenko. He started playing tennis at the age of 7 with his brother Eduard, nine years his senior. At the age of 11, he left his hometown for the Russian city of Volgograd. The initiator of the departure was his brother Eduard who worked as a children's tennis coach in Volgograd at that time. He motivated his brother's move by the fact Nikolay's professional growth at home was impossible. Four years later, in 1996, the brothers decided to move to Salmtal, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany for the same reasons.

The brothers had lived in Germany for three years and then applied for German citizenship but the German Tennis Federation did not support the application, and as a result, they returned to Russia. In 1999, at the age of 18, Nikolay changed his Ukrainian citizenship (granted at 14 by default) to the Russian one. In 2007, he applied for Austrian citizenship (so as to obtain dual citizenship), unsuccessfully. He was motivated by the difficulties obtaining travel visa with the Russian passport. And he wasn't given one because a sports minister in Austria was against while the other local authorities seemed to approve it. According to Davydenko, the Austrian minister said: "It's too soon".

He and his wife Irina, a former model (m. 2006), have three children, an older daughter named Ekaterina (born 2012) and two sons — Konstantin (b. 2015) and Dmitry (b. 2017). His nephew Philipp is a former professional tennis player and ATP/WTA coach. Davydenko speaks Russian as a native language, German as his second one, and English.

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Tennis career

Davydenko and his brother, Eduard, started playing at the age of seven with his brother Davydenko. He and Eduard travelled to Salmtal, Germany, to continue improving and competing in more tournaments during his junior tennis career.

In 1999, Davydenko became a professional. He appeared on the Futures Tour in 2000, where he gained one crown and advanced to three finals. He made his ATP debut at Amsterdam in the semifinals. He won his first Challenger title in Mönchengladbach later in August.

In 2001, Davydenko made his Grand Slam debut at the Australian Open, where he advanced to the second round before losing to former world no. Patrick Rafter in four sets was defeated by 1, Patrick Rafter in four sets. His popularity and abilities were evident in this performance. He suffered his lower back in Dallas in February and was out for six weeks. He bounced back to win two Challenger titles in Ulm and Istanbul after suffering from the injury. With a quarter-final appearance in Basel, he ended the season.

Davydenko appeared on both the ATP Tour and in Challenger events in 2002. It was a good year for quarterfinal appearances in Bstad and Vienna. He captured his fourth Challenger title in Szczecin this year.

In 2003, Davydenko made a big strides on the ATP Tour. He claimed his first ATP title in Adelaide, defeating Kristof Vliegen in the final. He captured his second tour title in Estoril on clay, defeating Agustin Calleri just a few months later. His year came to an end with solid clay appearances in Barcelona and St. Pölten, who progressed to the quarterfinal and final respectively. For the first time in his career, Davydenko finished in the top 50 for the first time in his career.

For the second year in a row, his career flourished in 2004. After a slow start to season, a quarterfinal appearance in the Monte Carlo Masters kicked off a 10–2 match run. He captured his third title in Munich a week later. He boosted his triumph by qualifying in the semifinal in Stuttgart, losing to Guillermo Caas. In October, he won both the singles and doubles in Moscow for his first home-soil victory (partnering Igor Andreev). For the first time, he spent the season in the top 30 for the first time.

For the first time in a Grand Slam at the Australian Open in 2005, he started the season by qualifying in the quarterfinals for the first time. In St. Pölten, he claimed his fifth title in his career, defeating home favorite Jürgen Melzer. He maintained his solid form by reaching the semifinals of the Hamburg Masters and his first semifinal appearance in a Grand Slam at the French Open. He defeated Guillermo Correy, one of the tournament's favorites and the previous year's runner-up, 2–6, 6–2, 6–2. Coria's win showed how far Davydenko had come in the last year, beating Davydenko by six games in the 2004 French Open first round.

In five close sets, Davydenko lost in the semifinals of the 2005 French Open to Mariano Puerta, 4–6, 4–6. Davydenko made it to the top ten for the first time since the 2005 French Open. He ended the year by qualifying in the quarterfinals at both the Cincinnati Masters and the Paris Masters. For the first time after a great season, he qualified for the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai for the first time and lost to David Nalbandian in the semifinals. He was the No. 1 in the year and ended it on a high note. No. 1 in Russia and the world no. 5.

After his meteoric ascension to the top of the top 10 in 2005, Davydenko stayed in the top 5 for 2006. He made a quarterfinal appearance at the Australian Open, losing in four close sets, 6–3, 6–7, 6–7. He had another good clay-court season, reaching the final in Estoril and the quarterfinals at the Hamburg Masters. He defended his name in Pöertschach and reached the quarterfinals of the French Open for the second year. He recovered from a humiliating loss at Wimbledon that resulted in victory in Sopot and his first American victory in New Haven. He reached his second Grand Slam semifinal at the United States Open, losing to Roger Federer. He won in Moscow and his first TMS title in Paris at this point in his career. Davydenko, who was married, helped Russia win the Davis Cup against Argentina. He reached a career-high ranking of No. 1 in the United States. He finished the year with a 3 on which he appeared.

For the third year in a row, 2007, the Australian Open got off with another quarterfinal appearance. He was slow to recover his form in the clay court season, but the Rome Masters eventually did, losing in the semifinal to Rafael Nadal, 6–7, 4–6. His good form continued, and he advanced to the semifinals for the second time at the French Open for the second time, losing to Roger Federer 5–7, 6–7, 6–7. He shocked the tennis world by advancing to the fourth round on his least favored surface at Wimbledon. Davydenko made strong strides in the Canada Masters and the Cincinnati Masters, winning the quarterfinals and semifinals respectively, extending to the hard-court season in the United States. For the second year in a row, Davydenko advanced to the semifinals of the United States Open for the second year in a row before losing to Roger Federer 5–7, 5–7. He won his 11th title in Moscow, defeating Paul-Henri Mathieu. He participated in the Masters Cup, which took place in Shanghai, China, in November. He lost in the final round robin, losing to Andy Roddick 2:1 sets, and beating Fernando Gonzales 2:0 sets, putting him third in the group, meaning he did not qualify for the knockout stage. Davydenko's year was his best in terms of rankings. For the third year in a row, the four-and-a-kind ranked in the top 5 for the third year in a row.

Davydenko debuted at the Australian Open in 2008, where he was seeded fourth. He won his first three matches in straight sets but lost in the fourth round to countryman Mikhail Youzhny, 6–7, 1–6. He reached the semifinals in Dubai, losing in three sets to Feliciano López. He went on to win his first match to date, the Miami Masters. Rafael Nadal, 6–4, 6–2, his second ATP Masters Series victory, aided him in the semifinals and semifinals. His victory over Roddick in the semifinals was his first victory in six matches, while Nadal was his first match in three matches.

Davydenko began his European clay-court season with a final appearance in the Estoril Open in Portugal, where he met the world no. Roger Federer is in the finals, 1st. Although leading Federer, 6–7, 2–1, Davydenko retired with a left leg injury in the second round of the final, he was able to swim in the second set of the tournament. He then progressed to the Monte Carlo Masters semifinals. He won his 13th title in Pöertschach, beating Juan Mónaco 6–2, 2–6, 6–2. Davydenko won another title, this time in Warsaw, defeating Tommy Robredo 6–3, 6–3. Davydenko's stay in Beijing was short; despite being seeded fourth at the Games, he would be disqualified by Paul-Henri Mathieu in the second round. Before the US Open, he did not win back-to-back matches until the event. He lost in the fourth round to qualifier Gilles Müller, 4–6, 6–7, snapping his streak of two straight semifinals.

Davydenko reached the semifinals at the Paris Masters, losing to David Nalbandian 1–6, 7–5, 4–6. For the fourth year in a row, Davydenko qualified for the Tennis Masters Cup. He defeated Juan Martn del Potro and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the round-robin tournament, where he defeated Andy Murray, 7–5, 6–2, to advance to the final. Novak Djokovic lost 1–6, 5–7. Davydenko ended the year at no. 9 in the world. For the fourth year in a row, the world ranks 5th in the world and in the top five for the fourth year in a row.

Davydenko opened the year at an exhibition in Abu Dhabi that featured six of the world's best players. Davydenko defeated Andy Roddick 6–4, 6–4, before being dismantled by Rafael Nadal, 6–3.

He was in Chennai, India, where he was the top seed in his first tour tournament. In straight sets, he beat Daniel Köllerer in straight sets but was forced to pull out before his second-round match against Lukádlouh due to a left heel injury. Davydenko was forced to withdraw from the Australian Open due to his injury. Julien Benneteau defeated him in the second round in Rotterdam. He suffered in Chennai earlier this year, causing Davydenko to withdraw from the 1000 Series tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami. His position has dropped from No. 1 to No. 1. 5 to none. By April 6, there will be 9 in the United Kingdom.

After a two-month absence, Davydenko returned to the tour. He beat Ivo Karlovi and David Nalbandian in Monte Carlo before being eliminated by Andy Murray in the quarterfinals, 6–7, 6–6. He defeated Feliciano López and Radek in three sets in Barcelona, beating them back-to-back three-set victories. He was deposed by the world no. 1 in 2005. Rafael Nadal qualified in the semifinals, 3–6, 2–6. Despite his time in Barcelona, his ranking fell out of the top ten for the first time since May 23, 2005.

In the early rounds in Rome, Davydenko was dissatisfied. Davydenko reached his second semifinal appearance of the year in Estoril by defeating Juan Carlos Ferrero in the second round and Mardy Fish in the quarterfinals, but American James Blake stopped him 7–6, 6–6. Nikolay advanced to the third round of the French Open in Madrid before being forced to cancel due to a leg injury during his match against Andy Roddick. He was able to compete at Roland Garros and advanced to the quarterfinals and was able to compete with them. He dropped a set apiece to Diego Junqueira and Stanislas Wawrinka and defeated eighth seed Fernando Verdasco 6–2, 6–4, en route. 1–6, 3–6, 1–6. He defeated eventual runner-up Robin Söderling (who had just upset Rafael Nadal in the fourth round).

On grass, Davydenko advanced to the third round at Wimbledon, before losing 2–6, 3–6, 2–6, for the first time. He came second seed in the 2009 MercedesCup after Wimbledon, losing to Fabio Fognini in the quarterfinals. He went on to win two straight titles: the 2009 International German Open, defeating Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6–2, and the 2009 ATP Studena Croatia Open Umag, beating Juan Carlos Ferrero 6–0, dropping only one set in ten matches. In the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup in Montreal, Davydenko defeated Andy Murray, 2–6, 4–6, a loss that snapped a 12-match winning streak. In the third round of the 2009 Cincinnati Masters to Gilles Simon, he eventually lost 7–6, 4–6, 4–6. Davydenko finished in the quarterfinals of the 2009 Pilot Pen Tennis Championships to Sam Query. He reached the fourth round of the US Open before dropping out against Robin Söderling due to a left thigh injury.

Robin Söderling, 6–2, 6–2, and Fernando Verdasco, 6–5, 6–5, in the quarterfinals, winning his third title of the year at the 2009 Malaysian Open, beating Gal Monfils, 6–3, 6–3. He competed in the 2009 China Open after winning in the quarterfinals to eventual runner Marin ili, 4–6. He defeated three seeded opponents en route to the final, tenth seed Radek tpánek, and second seed Novak Djokovic at the Shanghai Masters 1000 tournament. He defeated Djokovic in the semifinals, 4–6, 6–6, 7–6. He played Rafael Nadal in the final and took the title in a dramatic, 7–6, 6–3.

Davydenko won four of his five matches in London at the ATP World Tour Finals. He lost his first round-robin match to Novak Djokovic, 6–3, 5–7, but 6–6 is the same as his second match. He continued to beat the odds by defeating his team's leader, Robin Söderling, 7–6, 6–3 to advance to the semifinals. With a 6–2, 4–6, 7–5 victory, he gained his first victory over Roger Federer in 13 tries in the semifinals. Davydenko won his second straight ATP World Tour Finals finals appearance, earning his second straight ATP World Tour Finals final appearance. In the final, 6–3, 6–4. He won by defeating Juan Martn del Potro. With his victory, he became the first Russian to win the competition. For the fourth year in a row, the winner also won the tournament in straight sets for the fourth year in a row.

Davydenko ended the year at No. 5 in the world's highest ranking. For the fifth year in a row, the six nations and the top ten are ranked in the world.

Davydenko began the year at the Abu Dhabi exhibition but was defeated in the first round by David Ferrer. Davydenko defeated Roger Federer, 6–4, 6–4, in the semifinal and Rafael Nadal, 0–6, 6–4, for his 20th ATP World Tour victory. With this win in 2010, Davydenko became the second player to defeat Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in the same tournament (after Juan Martn del Potro at the 2009 US Open) on two occasions. Davydenko won his first three rounds without losing a set before defeating Spain's Fernando Verdasco in five sets. He eventually lost in the quarterfinals, 6–2, 3–6, 5–7.

Davydenko then travelled to Rotterdam to compete in the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament. He was the second seed in the semifinals against Sweden's Robin Söderling Davydenko but he broke it on his wrist and broke it. He continued to play and lost to the eventual champion, 6–7, 4–6. Davydenko made his first appearance in the Dubai Tennis Championships.

Davydenko defeated Latvia's Ernests Gulbis at the 2010 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. He withdrew due to a fractured wrist in his third round match against Viktor Troicki of Serbia. According to Davydenko, his first MRI in the Netherlands didn't help to identify the fracture due to inflammation, and so it was only in the United States. After missing the 2010 French Open, Davydenko returned to the grass court in Halle. He defeated local player Simon Greul 7–6, 6–0 in his first match back. Despite his doctor's warning him not to participate in the tournament, he played. However, he lost in the second round to Benjamin Becker, 3–6, 4–6.

Daniel Brands then lost in the second round of Wimbledon to Daniel Brands, 6–7, 1–6. He then failed to win back-to-back matches in his next four tournaments until the 2010 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters, where he defeated Robby Ginepri and David Ferrer in three sets before losing to Roger Federer in the quarterfinals, 4–6, 5–7. He also qualified in the quarterfinals of the 2010 China Open, but he failed to defend his title in the Shanghai Rolex Masters and fell out of the top ten for the first time in over a year. In the 2010 Open Sud de France, 2010 Valencia Open 500, and 2010 BNP Paribas Masters, he then reached three quarterfinals in a row. Davydenko did not qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. For the first time in 2005, this was the first time he did not qualify since qualifying for the first time in 2005. For the first time in over 5+12 years, he also fell out of the top 20 for the first time in over 5+12 years.

The form of Davydenko's in 2011 dropped dramatically. His first appearance in the Qatar Open was in the semifinals, where he defeated Rafael Nadal in the semifinals, but Roger Federer beat him in the final. He was defeated in four sets, 3–6, 6–6, 4–6 at the 2011 Australian Open, beating him unseeded Florian Mayer. He then lost in the first rounds of the 2011 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament and 2011 Open 13 to Frenchmen Michal Llodra and Gilles Simon, respectively. He dropped in the first and second rounds of the 2011 Dubai Tennis Championships and 2011 BNP Paribas Open, respectively. In the first round of the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open and 2011 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, he dropped in the first round of the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open and 2011 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters 1000. In the 2011 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell, he won his first back-to-back victories since Doha, but Nicolás Almagro defeated him 6–7, 3–6.

He started slowly, but eventually found some good form, which culminated in his victory over Florian Mayer in the final. This was his 21st ATP title, and it meant he had won at least one ATP championship for nine years in a row and brought him right back to the top of the charts. This was, however, his first final of the year, and he failed to advance to the third round of any grand Slam or Masters tournament, although Novak Djokovic defeated Ivan Dodig and Potito Starace in the first two rounds.

Davydenko lost in the first round of the Australian Open to Flavio Cipolla, 4–6, 6–3, 2–6, 1–6, and the first round of Roland Garros to Andreas Seppi. He appeared in the World No. 1st. Andy Murray was defeated 1–6, 1–6, 4–6 in the first round of the 2012 Wimbledon Championships, defeating him 1–6, 1–6, 4–6. Davydenko did marginally better at the US Open, winning his first-round match against Argentinian Guido Pella but losing in the second round to local Mardy Fish in five sets. The collective findings represented Davydenko's worst show at the Grand Slams in a single year.

Overall, Davydenko started poorly with a first-round loss in Doha (to world no. 1), contributing to a miserable year. In comparison to his early departure in Australia, 3 Roger Federer) and a second-round loss in Montpellier. Davydenko advanced to the semi-finals of the indoor tournament in Rotterdam, only to be defeated by Federer once more. Davydenko's other best results were in May when Davydenko was defeated by Brian Baker of the United States; Davydenko also reached the semi-finals of the indoor tournament in Metz in September, losing in three sets to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

At the 2012 London Olympic Games in July 2012, Davydenko represented the Russian Federation, with the tennis tournament being played at Wimbledon. Davydenko won his first-round match against Radek tpánek of the Czech Republic but lost in the second round to Japan's Kei Nishikori in the men's singles competition. In the Olympics men's doubles, Davydenko partnered with Mikhail Youzhny, who won their first-round match against Germany (Philipp Petzschner and Christopher Kashner), but ultimately lost a close match against eventual gold medalists Bob and Mike Bryan of the United States, 7-6 (7-1).

Davydenko's last tournament appearance of the year was in Basel, Switzerland, in late October, where he lost in the second round to Paul-Henri Mathieu. Overall, Davydenko appeared in 25 tournaments in 2012 and ended with a 24-23 record, winning $498,941 in prize money. He finished 2012 with an ATP singles ranking of 44, down from 41 at the start of 2012.

Davydenko began his 2013 season by winning the Qatar ExxonMobil Open finals in January after defeating Spain's David Ferrer (then ranked 5th in the world) in the semifinals. Richard Gasquet, the world number 10, was then defeated in the final, losing in 3 sets (3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3). He would continue to play at the French Open later in the third round before being disqualified in straight sets by Gasquet (4-6, 3-6).

He finished the year at No. 1 in the world of No. 1. 53 years old.

In the 2014 season, Davydenko struggled to win in a row. In the first round of the Qatar Open, he lost to Daniel Brands. Richard Gasquet defeated him in the second round of the Australian Open. Davydenko defeated world no. 39 Julien Benneteau in Montpellier but was stunned by the world no. Albano Olivetti, 248. He was defeated by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the second round of the 2014 Open 13 second round. He reached the second round of the 2014 Indian Wells Masters, losing to John Isner in the second round. He was stunned by Adrian Mannarino in the first round of the 2014 Sony Open Tennis Championships.

Davydenko started his clay court season with a loss at Albert Ramos Violas at the Barcelona Open in the first round. Federico Delbonis beat him at BMW Open. He won his first clay court match of the season at the Düsseldorf Open by defeating Dudi Sela before losing to Jiri Vesely in the second round. Since losing in the first round of the 2014 French Open, he decided against retiring or not. According to sources close to the Russian Davis Cup team and tennis federation, Davydenko had decided to retire and that he would be honoured with a farewell service at the Kremlin Cup this year. Davydenko denied these rumors by announcing his departure at a press conference in Moscow on October 16.

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