Posted at 7:18 a.m., Thursday, September 13, 2007
Tennis: Unseeded Cilic knocks off top seed Davydenko
Advertiser Staff
BEIJING — Unseeded Marin Cilic knocked off top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko 6-3, 6-4 today to move into the quarterfinals of the China Open.It was the first time Cilic had beaten a top 10 player. The fourth-ranked Davydenko lost in the U.S. Open semifinals to Roger Federer.
Cilic, of Croatia, used a strong serve to beat the Russian in 74 minutes. He won 41 of 58 points on his serve, including three aces.
Cilic will play wild-card Nicolas Kiefer of Germany in the last eight. Kiefer beat seventh-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, 6-3, 6-4.
Davydenko's loss comes ahead of an expected meeting with investigators after a British online gambling company tracked bettors putting 10 times the usual amount of money on a match he played in August.
Most of the bets were for his 87th-ranked opponent; Davydenko quit in the third set with a foot injury. Davydenko has denied any involvement.
Eighth-seeded Russian Igor Andreev also advanced to the quarterfinals with a 7-6 (4), 6-4 win over American Kevin Kim. Andreev plays third-seeded Tommy Robredo of Spain, who downed South African Rik de Voest 6-2, 6-3.
