Events / Ben Caudell / 15 October 2009 / Leave a comment

Ben Caudell tells us how Nikolay Davydenko may be telling porkie pies to the TV cameras ahead of his match against Radek Stepanek and why our money should be on the Russian to come out best.

"The Russian’s stats are considerably better than Stepanek’s on the hard-courts and with a win for Davydenko earlier this year over the Czech (overall head-to-head tied at 4-4) the Russian will have one foot on the plane to London."

Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) v Radek Stepanek (CZE) -

The sixth-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko is closing in on a place in the tennis calendar's finale, the Barclays ATP Wold Tour Finals, being held at the O2 arena in London. Only the top 8 ranked tennis players in the world will make it to the finals with three places still up for grabs.

Although the Russian is very close to securing a place in the top eight, he has been on record stating that he isn't too worried about making the field for London. Davydenko, who defeated Fernando Gonzalez in straights sets to reach the quarter finals said he would not be heartbroken should he fail to qualify for the eight-man World Tour Finals, and would instead just enjoy the time off. "If I don't reach London, it's good. I have more time to spend with my family and then prepare for next season. It's been a long season" the Russian was quoted as saying.

I believe Davydenko is using a psychological tactics to put less pressure on himself and instead apply negative thoughts into the minds of his opponents who are also in the race to make the exclusive top 8.

Against Fernando Gonzalez, he looked relaxed and hungry for success and won 38 of 47 service points (87%) to improve to a 46-13 match record (18-6) on hard courts for the season. Davydenko likes playing in Shanghai; at last year's Masters Cup the Russian defeated Jo Wilfried Tsonga, Juan Martin del Potro, and Andy Murray, before losing to Novak Djokovic in the final.

The Russian's stats are considerably better than Stepanek's on the hard-courts and with a win for Davydenko earlier this year over the Czech (overall head-to-head tied at 4-4) the Russian will have one foot on the plane to London.

Selection:

Back Nikolay Davydenko @ [1.41]
Back Davydenko 2-0 @ [2.2]

Tags: London 02 Arena, Nikolay Davydenko, Shanghai Masters, tennis betting, tennis matches, tennnis odds