Analysis for Davydenko-Youzhny (Australian Open)

Head-to-head record 0:3

Mikhail Youzhny of Russia is going to meet his nemesis, the Russian No 1, Nikolay Davydenko again. It is not a secret that we like Youzhny´s playing style much more than Davydenko´s one. Our loyal subscribers already know that we often back on Youzhny, especially against defensive-minded players so this picks is probably not surprising. Mikhail is an offensive player who loves fast surfaces. He often employs a single-handed backhand, which we consider to be his best shot. From both sides, Youzhny hits the ball on the rise to achieve a flatter flight trajectory and to get the ball to the opponent's side quicker. He has a good court sense and often makes use of dropshots to mix up the rallies. Youzhny is often able to draw his energy from the engaged crowd to produce a series of risky winners. He has a negative head-to-head record against his country-mate but he seems to be in a great shape right now (he has the best YTD record from all players – 8 wins/0 losses). His first tournament of 2008 was Chennai, winning it by demolishing Nadal 6-0, 6-1 in less than an hour of play. He was also impressive in the third-round match against Karlovic and we hope it is the right time to improve the bad statistics against Davydenko. Nikolay prefers slower surfaces although he is capable of playing an all-surface game. His main strengths are his groundstrokes, foot speed, balance and return game. He is best known in the tennis world for his running shots which he takes early and often turn into winners. Davydenko's weaknesses are serve, volleys and variation which are important skills to have on fast surfaces. He reached the semifinal in Doha again, losing with Andy Murray 4-6 3-6. He has been impressive in Melbourne so far but we expect a tight match where anything could happen. Youzhny´s odds above 2.2 are worth taking for us.