For those who don’t know Nikolay Davydenko’s record against Fernando Verdasco, they might think the flashy Spaniard would have a good shot beating Davydenko.  And yet, the head-to-head record is 6-1 to Davydenko.

Historically, Davydenko’s ability to take the ball off the rise has neutralized the big-hitting Verdasco.  Still, Verdasco is in the top 10, so you had to expect a tough match for Davydenko.  Verdasco certainly has the power to outhit Davydenko.

Initially, Verdasco came out firing, trying to blast Davydenko off the court.  Davydenko weathered the early storm while Verdasco started missing shots and lessening the pace.  Davydenko broke in the two opportunities he was given and it seemed this match would end as so many others did.  Part of the problem was Verdasco’s poor first serve percentage that was down around 30%.

The second set also went Davydenko’s way, but was much closer, 7-5, partly because Verdasco raised his first serve percentage.  By the third set, Verdasco was still being positive, perhaps buoyed by his coach who cheered him on nearly every point.  Davydenko, meanwhile, was starting to miss some of his shots, shots he normally doesn’t miss.  Davydenko was broken late in the third set, and found himself in the fourth set.

The fourth set was pretty tight.  Verdasco broke late and looked to serve out the set, when Davydenko broke back.  They went into a tiebreak where it appeared Davydenko was going to serve out the tiebreak on his serve and missed both points.  Verdasco then took the fourth set tiebreak to push it to a fifth.

In the fifth, Verdasco had chances.  He had a break point on Davydenko’s first game, but Davydenko worked hard to save that game.  In Davydenko’s next service game, he was down 0-30, and again managed to get out of that game.  At 3-2, Verdasco was serving and was up 40-15, and yet Davydenko fought hard to get it to deuce, and eventually secure the break.  At 4-2, Davydenko held to 5-2, and then basically didn’t try too hard in Verdasco’s serve, which he held easily.  At 5-3, Davydenko, now amped from seeing the finish line so close, played a solid game to take the set, 6-3.

The match was surprisingly close given how many errors Verdasco made.  81 unforced errors, 20 double faults to 45 winners.  In last year’s epic semifinal, Verdasco hit nearly 100 winners to about 70 unforced errors.  Verdasco’s style of play is feast or famine.  He can hit hard, but he doesn’t seem steady enough to wait for the error.  It’s just not in his personality to play steady ball.  He knows he hits as hard as anyone, so that’s the style he plays, for good or bad.  Davydenko would have probably won sooner had he played with his usual accuracy, but began to miss shots he normally makes.

One question about Davydenko’s game is whether his style of play is too tiring to play in a five setter.  Davydenko seemed to tire as the match went along, and struggled with accuracy when Verdasco would play soft shots up the middle, hitting shots wide that he normally has great control over.  He’ll need to get back to his game.  One thing that he can be proud of his playing the big points well.  When he had points he needed to win, he usually found a way to win it.

Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic still hasn’t played a seeded player.  Lukacz Kubot, who primarily plays doubles, but has worked up his singles rank, was the beneficiary of Mikhail Youzhny’s walkover when he blamed an injured wrist for his inability to play.  Djokovic, who had an easy time beating Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan, also started this match pretty comfortably taking the first sets, 6-1 and 6-2.

The third set went tighter as Kubot raised his level of play, and it took a 7-5 set to win the third.

Djokovic has played weaker players so far, but every since he played Istomin, he’s started looking pretty sharp.  Perhaps playing weaker players has increased Djokovic’s confidence.  However, it looks as if his next opponent will be Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.  Although Djokovic’s first Slam came at Tsonga’s expense, Tsonga actually leads their head-to-head 4-2.  Their initial meeting was in Australia.  Tsonga then won the next 4 meetings.  Djokovic won their last meeting in Miami.

Tsonga (who currently is up two sets to none against Nicolas Almagro) will certainly feel confident playing Djokovic and will be his toughest challenge so far.  The question is whether all this recent play has Djokovic feeling confident, or lacking match toughness.

The last men’s match of the day is Roger Federer playing Lleyton Hewitt.  Almost everyone thinks Federer will win this, although many feel Hewitt can give the world number 1 trouble.  The key, according to commentator Darren Cahill, is to make some impression on Federer’s first serve.  If he can hang in on Federer’s serve, he may be able to keep the match interesting.

Tomorrow, Andy Murray should play Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick should play Marin Cilic.  Clearly, this is getting close to the finish line as quarterfinal play gets started.