Posted at 8:44 a.m., Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Tennis: Davydenko rolls at St. Petersburg Open
Associated Press
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — Top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko defeated Filippo Volandri 6-1, 6-1 Wednesday to advance to the second round at the St. Petersburg Open.Davydenko, who withdrew from the Madrid Masters last week because of a right elbow injury, broke the 44th-ranked Italian two times in the first set.
Volandri broke the Russian to trail 3-1 in the second set before losing three straight games.
The fourth-ranked Davydenko qualified for the season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai next month by winning the Kremlin Cup two weeks ago.
In the second round, seventh-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber won five straight games in the first set to beat wild-card Denis Matsukevitch 6-1, 6-1. Ernests Gulbis defeated Nicolas Massu 6-1, 6-2.
The 47th-ranked Gulbis, a semifinalist last year on his ATP Tour debut, won six of eight service games at love and had 14 aces.
Earlier, Fernando Verdasco advanced by defeating Werner Eschauer 7-6 (4), 6-1.
