Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:06
The second-seeded Russian has reached the quarter-finals at this indoor event just once in six consecutive appearances, but is now well-placed to improve that record.
The 27-year-old, who has claimed three titles this year and holds a 50-18 win-loss record for the season, will take on 145th-ranked Michail Elgin in the next round.
Davydenko is also guaranteed a non-seeded opponent in the last eight after Mikhail Kukushkin, a qualifier from Kazakhstan, upset fifth-seeded Croatian Marin Cilic 7-6 (7/4) 4-6 7-6 (8/6) to book a second-round meeting with unseeded Victor Hanescu.
The 2006 champion and seventh seed Mario Ancic also suffered an early exit as the Croatian went down 6-4 3-6 6-4 to unseeded Frenchman Jeremy Chardy.
Fernando Verdasco, the finalist in 2007, endured a nightmare first set before beating Russian qualifier Teimuraz Gabashvili 1-6 6-4 6-3.
The third-seeded Spaniard will face Latvian wild card Karlis Lejnieks next.
Fourth-seeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny had an easier time of it as he ousted Spain’s Ivan Navarro 6-2 6-1 in just 56 minutes to improve to 19-5 here.
The 2004 champion and runner-up in 2002, Youzhny will face German qualifier Mischa Zverev in the second round.
Also advancing from the first round was Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis, who could be rewarded with a match against top seed Andy Murray. The 21-year-old Scot, who faces Viktor Troicki on Wednesday, is the defending champion here and comes into the event fresh from winning the Madrid Masters on Sunday.
