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Ginepri knocks out Davydenko
MADRID: American qualifier Robby Ginepri knocked out fifth seed Nikolay Davydenko 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the second round of the Madrid Masters on Wednesday.
The defeat is a major blow for the Russian, who is chasing one of the four remaining places in next month’s eight-man Masters Cup in Shanghai, as it came hot on the heels of his quarterfinal exit from the Kremlin Cup.
In the next round Ginepri will meet Gilles Simon, who put out 11th seed James Blake on Tuesday.
Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the 16th seed, narrowly avoided a similar fate to Davydenko, winning a third set tiebreak to beat the impressive Marcel Granollers 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(5).
A spectacular leap and overhead backhand volley allowed him to break back and level midway through the third set, before he forced the Spaniard into an error to take the tiebreak 7-5.
The results:
At Madrid: Madrid Masters: Second round: Robby Ginepri bt Nikolay Davydenko 4-6, 6-4, 6-4; Jo-Wilfried Tsonga bt Marcel Granollers 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(5); David Nalbandian bt Tomas Berdych 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-1; Ivo Karlovic bt Robin Soderling 7-6(7), 7-6(8); Novak Djokovic bt Victor Hanescu 6-7(8), 7-6(8), 3-1 (retd.); Gael Monfils bt Fernando Gonzalez 6-3, 6-4; Richard Gasquet bt Mardy Fish 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-3; Rafael Nadal bt Ernests Gulbis 7-5, 3-6, 6-3.
At Zurich (Zurich Open): Second round: Venus Williams bt Alona Bondarenko 6-3, 6-4.
First round: Flavia Pennetta bt Nadia Petrova 6-1, 6-1; Sofia Arvidsson bt Sybille Bammer 0-6, 7-5, 6-4; Petra Kvitova bt Patty Schnyder 6-4, 3-6, 6-4; Monica Niculescu bt Anna Chakvetadze 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. — Agencies
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