Davydenko Preview

Everyone knows that Nikolay Davydenko may be one of the least popular top 5 players of all time.

If you're a top 5 player in the ATP...

You know it's bad when it takes a betting scandal for you to become a household name.

You also knows it's bad when you can't get a clothing line anyone heard of.

You also know it's bad if you can't half fill up a stadium.

And you really know it's bad if your never talked about before any Grand Slam.

This is the case for Davydenko. Before his betting scandal (I can't tell the story again, or even think about it because I have heard it forty times.) he was hardly even known. He keeps to himself, and lets his racket do all of his talking. He is a steady and gritty competitor who is very unpredictable (game and attitude.) Sometimes he looks like you need to drive a stake through his heart to beat him, and other times it looks like he couldn't care less at the end of matches. Even with his scandal, he's been lingering around the top 5 for quite a while now. Let's face it, no one thinks he's ever going to break into the top 2, and no one really thinks he's going to ever win a Slam. He is sort of in a tennis limbo, and the catch? Davydenko wouldn't change a thing. He loves to be ignored, and likes to play with sort of a "no one cares" chip on his shoulder. It would be easy for him to jump into the spotlight by saying some outrageous comments or acting nuts on the court, but he chooses not to.

Nikolay is in the ever wide-open GOLD GROUP, which has been mentioned for the past few days by me.

Earlier on in my posts, I predicted Davydenko would make the semi's of the Master's Cup, and I think the group he is in gives him a solid chance. He can sure beat Tsonga and Del Potro, and Novak isn't a bad match-up for him. I'll stick with my prediction, and hope he wants to show everyone he belongs in the Master's Cup. He's never really made much noise in the year-end tournament, maybe this is his year? The guy is starting to get old, and we can only imagine the mental energy he has spent this year with his scandal. I'd personally love to see him make a dent in the tournament...just to remind us all that HE IS, in fact, in the top 5.

Play starts tomorrow(or middle of the night/morning/afternoon depending on your channel, time zone, and country.) I still need to preview Simon and Tsonga, so I'll do that tomorrow, along with results and a brand new poll. See you soon.