Try to Remember Nikolay Davydenko

By Deghasio

It’s easy to forget Nikolay Davydenko. The Russian, who retired last month, had a career high ranking of number 3, never reached a grand slam final, never beat the best players when it mattered. He didn’t had a signature shot, like Hewitt’s lob or Nalbandian’s backhand, and he lacked the fiery personality—and domestic popularity—of compatriots Marat Safin, Mikhail Youzhny, and even Dmitry Tursunov. Pretty much the only thing he was famous for was being involved in a year-long betting scandal. (He was ultimately exonerated.)

The defining statistic of Davdenko’s career is that he’s a combined 3-24 against Federer and Roddick, including an 0-16 combined start to these “rivalries.” Classic Kolya. He was always, at best, the third best player on tour. At 5’10, 150 lbs., he lacked the firepower to beat the two hall-of-famers at their peak. When he was playing his best, the other nine players in the top 10 probably could beat him if they were playing their best too.

And yet, some facts are undeniable. He was the most consistent player on the tour (non-Federer, non-Nadal division), becoming the first Russian ever to finish in the year-end top 5 five straight years in a row, something Roddick can’t say. He’s the only person, ever, to have a winning record against Nadal (minimum five matches)…albeit with a dominant record of 6-5. And every once in a while he would catch fire, his opponents would be just a step slow, and he could roll of a stretch of victories. That’s what happened when he won his then-biggest tournament in 2008 in Miami, leading one overzealous writer to proclaim: "Who would have thought that tennis could be rescued by Nikolay Davydenko?" (No, really—that was an actual headline.)

It happened again 18 months later, when he won the 2009 Year End Championships. The other players in the tournament? Oh, just some nobodies: Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Murray, del Potro, Fernando Verdasco, and Robin Soderling. Every player, except Verdasco and newly minted US Open champ del Potro, would eventually reach multiple grand slam finals. And Davydenko, despite being placed in the group of death, beat Federer for the first time en route to the biggest win of his career over del Potro. He was the perfect version of David Ferrer, running around, getting back every ball, and using whatever small opening his opponent gave him to seize the advantage.

Although this was the biggest tournament for Davydenko, it won’t be the one that defines him for me. That would be the 2010 Australian Open. He entered the tournament on a—well, not a winning streak, but a winning patch against Federer, having beating him in the ’09 Finals and a warm-up tournament in Doha. The hottest player on tour (though maybe not in looks), then got bagelled by Federer in a four-set quarterfinal*. Kolya wouldn't beat Federer for the rest of his career.

*If you don’t click on any links in this article, at least click on the Steve Tignor recap of Davydenko’s ’10 Australian Open in the above paragraph. Also the picture of Davydenko.

So what sandwich is Nikolay Davydenko? I eventually settled on a PB&J. Not the most glamorous sandwich, but one you need to have. There will always be players like Davydenko on the tour. I’ve already mentioned one in Ferrer, but there are scores of them throughout history. Davydenko played the foil to Federer and Roddick and even to Nadal throughout his career. Every time one of the top players played a classic final, Davydenko was in the shadows. He never played The Match against them; he was the guy the top players battled before the match that really mattered. You’re probably not going to remember a PB&J very long, but it was still pretty good when you ate it. That, in two words, is Davydenko’s career: Pretty good.