Nikolay Davydenko

Began playing tennis at age seven with his older brother Eduard (born June 1, 1970), who was a gifted player himself and has been a big influence in his career...Parents Vladimir and Tatjana live in Volgograd, Russia...Born in Severodonezk, Ukraine but at age of 15 moved to Salmtal, Germany...Received Russian citizenship at 18 and moved back to Russia in early 2004...His favorite players growing up were Ivan Lendl and Yannick Noah... Enjoys fishing, soccer and hockey...Considers clay and rebound ace (hard) his favorite surfaces and strength is his quickness...Has a 13-8 Davis Cup record in singles (2-1 in doubles) in 15 ties...Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin attended his title effort in Moscow in 2004 and his Davis Cup home ties in 2005...Wife, Irina (married Nov. 25, 2006 in Moscow)...Coached by his brother Eduard (since 1992) and works with fitness trainer Rolf Shaaf.

2000 -- Qualified in ATP debut in Amsterdam and reached SF (l. to Sluiter)...Two weeks later, reached back-to-back Challenger SF at Wrexham and Togliatti...In August, won first Challenger title at Monchengladbach (d. Kempes)...

2001 -- Made Grand Slam debut at Australian Open and lost to Rafter in 2nd RD...Missed six weeks after injuring lower back and hip in 1st RD at Dallas Challenger in February...Captured Challenger titles in Ulm (d. Labadze) and Istanbul (d. Saulnier)...Finished season with QF in Basel...

2002 -- Won 12 ATP level matches and went 16-9 in Challenger play...Reached QF on clay in Bsstad...Captured fourth Challenger title in Szczecin (d. D. Sanchez)...Finished season with second ATP QF in Vienna...

2003 -- The No. 2 Russian (behind No. 41 Kafelnikov) captured two ATP titles and finished in Top 50 for first time...Opened season with his first title in Adelaide (d. Vliegen) and three months later began clay court circuit with title in Estoril (d. Calleri)...Followed with QF in Barcelona (d. Nalbandian, l. to Moya) and in May advanced to final in St. Poelten (d. Verkerk, l. to Roddick)...

2004 -- The No. 3 Russian finished in Top 30 for first time and captured two ATP titles for second straight year...After a 3-9 start through mid-April, turned things around at ATP Masters Series Monte Carlo where he reached QF (l. to Moya) and began a 10-2 run...Followed with Munich title (d. No. 5 Schuettler in QF, Verkerk in F)...

In July, reached SF in Stuttgart (l. to Canas)...In October, captured first ATP title on Russian soil in Moscow by winning singles and doubles titles (w/Andreev)...Saved one match point in SF win over Youzhny, then saved three match points in final against Rusedski...

2005 -- The No. 1 Russian for first time finished at No. 5......Captured one ATP title and advanced to seven other SF, including his first in a Grand Slam at Roland Garros and Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai...Also reached QF in six other tournaments...Played in most tournaments (30) of any player in Top 10 and captured his lone title of season in May...Helped his country to Davis Cup SF by winning four of five matches during year...

In first two months, advanced to SF in Doha (l. to Federer) and QF at Australian Open (l. to Roddick), Rotterdam (l. to Federer) and Dubai (l. to Agassi) while compiling an 11-6 record (four losses to Top 10 opponents)...His best stretch came on clay in mid-April to early June (18-5 mark) with SF in Barcelona (l. to Ferrero) and AMS Hamburg (d. Puerta, l. to Federer), a title in St. Poelten (d. Melzer) and SF at Roland Garros (l. to Puerta in five sets)...

Afterwards, broke into Top 10 for first time at No. 7 on June 6 and remained there rest of year...Retired in 2nd RD of Wimbledon due to right wrist injury and followed with 1st RD retirement in Gstaad...Led Russia to a 3-2 Davis Cup QF win over France by defeating Mathieu and Gasquet...Then advanced to SF in Stuttgart (ret. vs. Gaudio)...Returned to hard courts in August and reached QF in Cincinnati (l. to Hewitt)...Split his two Davis Cup SF matches vs. Croatia and went 8-5 in European indoor circuit, highlighted by SF in Metz (l. to Ljubicic) and QF in St. Petersburg and AMS Paris (l. to Stepanek)...

Closed season by reaching SF at Tennis Masters Cup with 3-0 round robin mark before losing to Nalbandian...Went 5-6 vs. Top 10 opponents and compiled records of 25-10 on clay, 22-14 on hard, 8-5 on carpet...

2006 -- The No. 1 Russian compiled a career-best season with five ATP titles in seven finals and personal-high 69 match wins...Played most tournaments (32) among Top 10...Reached QF or better at 15 tournaments, including QF at Australian Open and Roland Garros and SF at US Open...Also helped his country to Davis Cup title (d. Argentina 3-2) by posting a singles win against The Netherlands in 1st RD, France in QF and Argentina in final ties (did not play SF)...

Opened with QF in Doha (l. Volandri) and followed with SF in Sydney (l. to Blake) before repeating QF effort at Australian Open (l. to Federer in four sets)...During indoor play, reached 2nd RD in Marseille (l. to Korolev) and SF in Rotterdam (l. to Stepanek)...Then lost in back-to-back tournaments to countryman Safin in 1st RD in Dubai and 3rd RD at AMS Indian Wells...Followed with 4th RD at AMS Miami (l. to Ancic) and defeated Clement in four sets in Davis Cup QF tie in France...

Opened clay court play with three consecutive opening round losses, then rebounded with an 18-4 record over next five events, highlighted by runner-up at Estoril (l. to Nalbandian) and repeat title at Poertschach (d. Pavel)...Then reached QF at Roland Garros (l. to Nalbandian)...Went 0-3 on grass, and returned to clay in Bsstad to reach final (l. to Robredo)...Two weeks later, won Sopot title (d. Mayer)...

In August, won first title on U.S. soil by winning New Haven (d. Calleri) without dropping a set...Continued strong play at US Open where he reached SF with wins over Murray (4th) and Haas (QF) before falling to eventual champion Federer...In October, won his second title in three years in Moscow, defeating Safin in three sets...Claimed first AMS title in Paris (d. Hrbaty)...

Closed season at Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai and went 1-2 in round-robin play...Went 3-8 against Top 10 opponents... Earned over $2 million for first time...He and Nadal were only players to win at least 25 matches on clay and hard courts during year, going 27-9 on clay and 28-15 on hard...Also 14-2 on carpet...

2007 -- Finished in Top 5 for third straight year, highlighted by capturing his 11th ATP title...Appeared in his third consecutive Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai and went 1-2 in round robin play...Advanced to six SF, including Roland Garros for second time in three years and US Open for second straight year, along with four QF, including Australian Open for third consecutive time... Compiled a 17-4 record in Grand Slam play with two losses coming to Federer...Played most tournaments (30) among Top 10 for third straight season...Also member of Russian Davis Cup team which reached final (l. 4-1 to U.S.) although he was 0-2 in singles and 0-1 in doubles...

Jumped off to a quick start (11-5) by reaching QF or better in three of his first five tournaments... Opened with SF in Doha (l. to Murray) and posted QF effort at Australian Open (l. to Haas in five sets)...During indoor play, reached SF in Rotterdam (l. to Ljubicic)...In March, reached 4th RD at AMS Indian Wells (l. to Murray) and 3rd RD at AMS Miami (l. to Delic)...Played well on clay with QF in Barcelona, SF at AMS Rome (l. to Nadal), QF in Poertschach (l. to Monaco) and SF at Roland Garros (l. to Federer)...

On grass, turned in a personal-best 4th RD at Wimbledon with wins over Korolev, Guccione and Monfils (l. to Baghdatis)...Returned to clay and struggled with a 1-4 mark but turned things around on hard courts with a QF at AMS Montreal (l. to Stepanek), SF at AMS Cincinnati (d. Berdych, Ferrer; l. to Blake) and at US Open (d. Haas, l. to Federer)...In October, repeated his title in Moscow (d. Mathieu) without dropping a set... Earned over $2 million for second straight season...Went 3-7 vs. Top 10 opponents and compiled marks of 34-16 on hard, 14-12 on clay and 4-2 on grass.

2008 -- The top Russian finished in Top 5 for a fourth straight season...Has won at least one ATP title for six straight years...Captured three ATP titles in five finals, including his second AMS shield in Miami where he posted back-to-back wins over No. 6 Roddick in SF and No. 2 Nadal in final...Posted a 27-7 match record in first four months, reaching final in Estoril (ret. vs. Federer with left leg injury) and SF in Doha (l. to Murray), Dubai (l. to Lopez) and AMS Monte Carlo (l. to Nadal)...

In May, won title in Poertschach (d. Monaco) and reached 3rd RD at Roland Garros (l. to Ljubicic in five sets)...Followed with title in Warsaw (d. Robredo)...Posted his 300th career match win during Warsaw...Struggled in next four tournaments (2-4) before advancing to 4th RD at US Open (l. to Muller)...Failed to reach QF in a Grand Slam tournament for first time since 2004...Played in Davis Cup SF vs. Argentina in Buenos Aires, losing to del Potro in second rubber before beating No. 7 Nalbandian in fourth rubber to level tie (Russia lost 3-2)...

Returned to ATP play in Moscow and reached QF (l. to Safin)...Closed with SF at AMS Madrid (d. Nadal in QF, ret.; l. to Nalbandian) and finished as runner-up at Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai (l. to Djokovic)...Compiled a career-best 9-5 mark against Top 10 opponents and records of 33-14 on hard and 23-6 on clay.

2009

The top The top Russian captured at least four ATP World Tour titles in a season for second time in his career (five in 2006)...After an early season foot injury limited him to five tournaments through April and a 7-4 record, from May-on he compiled a 46-12 mark with four titles...He struggled early in season with a left heel injury he suffered in first week in Chennai where he withdrew from his second round match...Also withdrew from Australian Open, breaking a streak of 29 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments played (since '01 US Open)...Returned to action one month later in Rotterdam and lost in the second round....In March, withdrew from Indian Wells and Sony Ericsson Open in Miami where he captured title in 2008 due to heel injury...After a two-month absence, returned in mid-April to reach QF at Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, defeating No. 12 seed Nalbandian before losing to No. 4 Murray...Followed with SF in Barcelona, losing to eventual champion Nadal...Fell out of Top 10 on Apr. 27 for first time since May 23, 2005 and except for one week (May 18) was out of Top 10 for three months...In May, reached SF in Estoril, losing to James Blake in three sets and third round in Madrid before withdrawing vs. Roddick due to a leg injury...Advanced to QF at Roland Garros for fourth time in five years, losing to eventual finalist Robin Soderling...Returned to Top 10 on July 27 after capturing his 15th career ATP World Tour title in Hamburg, extending his streak of winning at least one title for seven consecutive years...The following week in Umag, he won back-to-back titles for first time in his career as he triumphed over Juan Carlos Ferrero...His 12-match winning streak came to an end in quarter-finals of Rogers Cup in Montreal, where he lost to eventual champion Andy Murray...At US Open, retired with left thigh injury to Soderling...After a four week break, earned his third title of year, first of his career in Asia in Kuala Lumpur as he beat No. 9 Verdasco in final...Two weeks later, he captured Shanghai Masters 1000 title, defeating top two seeds Rafael Nadal (in final) and Novak Djokovic (in SF)....It was his third career ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title.