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Posted at 8:40 a.m., Thursday, November 1, 2007

Tennis: Davydenko criticized for poor serving in loss

By JEROME PUGMIRE
Associated Press

PARIS — Nikolay Davydenko was criticized by the chair umpire for his poor serving in a 6-2, 6-2 loss to Marcos Baghdatis in the third round of the Paris Masters today.

The Russian finished with 10 double-faults and 36 unforced errors. He was booed during a match in which he lost serve five times.

Chair umpire Cedric Mourier spoke to Davydenko during a changeover, asking him what was wrong with his serve. The defending champion responded by asking what else he could do.

"Serve like me," Mourier said. "If you serve like me, you put it in the box. That's it."

The fourth-ranked Davydenko had said Wednesday he was hampered by a sore elbow, but he didn't give a direct answer when Baghdatis asked him what was wrong as they shook hands at the end of the match.

Last week at the St. Petersburg Open, Davydenko was fined $2,000 by the ATP for "lack of best effort" during a 1-6, 7-5, 6-1 loss to Marin Cilic.

"I cannot serve," Davydenko said of today's match. "That was happening in St. Petersburg. I don't have pain really. I have no pain in my elbow. I need to find what's the reason I cannot really serve."

Davydenko is at the center of tennis' match-fixing investigation.

In an unprecedented move, online gambling exchange Betfair voided bets for a match in Poland in August after Davydenko withdrew against 87th-ranked Martin Vassallo Arguello in the third set because of a foot injury. The ATP is still looking into that match.

"I'm not thinking about the stories and rumors about him," Baghdatis said. "I don't know if they are true or not. I just try to play my game and remain focused."

Baghdatis saved six break points and broke Davydenko five times to set up a quarterfinal matchup against either eighth-seeded Tommy Robredo or 11th-seeded Guillermo Canas.

Andy Murray stayed in contention for a spot in the season-ending Masters Cup by beating French veteran Fabrice Santoro 6-4, 6-2.

The 15th-seeded Murray next plays either 10th-seeded Richard Gasquet of France or sixth-seeded James Blake of the United States.

Later, Roger Federer was to face David Nalbandian. The Argentine beat Federer last month in the Madrid Masters final.

Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Davydenko, Andy Roddick and David Ferrer have already qualified for the Masters Cup. The two remaining spots will be decided in Paris.