Davydenko appears burned out

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G.O.A.T.
eurosport

World number four Nikolay Davydenko said he can hardly bring himself to practise after losing his hunger for tennis.

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The Russian beat Latvia's Ernests Gulbis 6-4 6-2 to reach the second round of the Olympic men's singles but cut a miserable figure when he spoke to reporters afterwards.

"I've not been playing well the last few months, I don't know why. I've not practised well and not been concentrated on the tennis," the 27-year-old said.

"I'm happy to win and but I didn't enjoy playing in these tough conditions."

Davydenko, playing in his second Olympics, produced a stunning performance earlier this year to win the Miami Masters, beating Rafael Nadal in the final, but his form since claiming the Warsaw title in June has been terrible.

Asked why he appears so disenchanted with a sport which has earned him $1.5 million this year alone, he said: "I don't know... the last two years I've played so many tournaments, trying to keep getting good results and defending points.

"If I don't play tennis for a few days I don't care really. I don't know how many days I can hold the racket just feeling so tired playing tennis.

"I don't do anything, no fitness, no running, no anything. For me as a professional player it's not so good, I hope I can come back and find some concentration."

Davydenko, who was at the centre of an investigation into a betting scandal after a match in Poland last July, said he may cut down his schedule.

"I wanted to play at the Olympics but I'm not expecting a good result," he said. "I'm just waiting to see what's happening mentally.

"Maybe if I play less I will find the hunger for tennis again and start practising and start doing some running and fitness rather than just playing an hour a day.



Too much tennis for too many years...
 
D

Deleted member 25923

Guest
He needs to cut down on tournies. too many, especially playing warsaw before wimby.
 
A lot of this stuff can be lost in translation, because his english isn't the best. But I hope he finds some type of motivation for at least a few more years.
 

orangettecoleman

Professional
the guy plays twice as many tournaments as anyone else, it's no surprise he's getting burned out. plus all the nonsense about the match fixing last year.
 

tacou

G.O.A.T.
stupid semi finals? he plays Federer tighter than most people. Miami Davy vs current Fed = Davy in 2 easy sets.

I love the guy and hope he finds some pleasure in the game soon.
 
stupid semi finals? he plays Federer tighter than most people. Miami Davy vs current Fed = Davy in 2 easy sets.

I love the guy and hope he finds some pleasure in the game soon.

I guess...it's aalmost always get to 5-5 in the first set, get broken, lose the set, and get dusted the next two sets...
 

Challenger

Semi-Pro
People seem to ignore him because he's rather bland personality-wise, but I enjoyed watching him play over the years. It's a shame he feels this way, but what can ya do...it's his life, he can live it however he pleases.

It must sorta suck for Gulbis, though, to get mowed down by a guy who basically admitted to dogging it right afterwards.
 

cmb

Semi-Pro
hes probably going to stop playing the tour soon. Then he can continue his normal routine of hitting an hour 3 times per week. With only playing that much he can still clean up matches in all the euro club leagues and still make 200-300k euros a year. Does not have to travel, does not have to train...that would be the life really. The tour is a real pain in the arse sometimes
 

TENNIS_IS_FUN

Professional
He needs to cut down on tournies. too many, especially playing warsaw before wimby.

Yea...he's not the youngest player on the tour and he's getting older everyday....He should definitely cut back on the number of tournies he plays...I don't know how badly it would change his rankings but maybe play enough so that he can at least stay in the top 10.
 

Grimjack

Banned
Good for him. He seems to be growing up. Playing games for a living is all good and well, but it's not exactly making a contribution. Someone with his work ethic could really make a difference if he could channel it into something more altruistic and worthwhile.
 

fantom

Hall of Fame
I'm sure that nobody looks forward to seeing him on the other side of the net....no matter what his record is against the top guys. When he's on, he's an absolute beast from the baseline. If his serve was just 10% better, he'd have a handful of MS titles and a few slam finals under his belt.
 

TennisLegend

New User
To be honest I have no respect for him and very sceptical of his performances with all the betting controversy. So many things to not add up with him and i think he has bought the game into disrepute. How he was world number four in world is beyond me as he has never performed at Grand Slams.
 

Alexio92

Professional
To be honest I have no respect for him and very sceptical of his performances with all the betting controversy. So many things to not add up with him and i think he has bought the game into disrepute. How he was world number four in world is beyond me as he has never performed at Grand Slams.

No he hasnt got to any semi finals at all has he?
 

TheTruth

G.O.A.T.
Sounds like the grind has finally caught up with him. Davy is a good player. I hope he takes some time off, enjoy the spoils of his labor and comes back refreshed. I enjoy his game.
 
D

Deleted member 25923

Guest
He needs some kind of personality, either the silent, confident type, or the rambuncious guy with the attitude.

Either that, or he needs to have a more exciting game. I usually never watch Davydenko. His game is all consistency, and his personality is kind of blah.

I would kill for his game though.
 

CyBorg

Legend
To be honest I have no respect for him and very sceptical of his performances with all the betting controversy. So many things to not add up with him and i think he has bought the game into disrepute. How he was world number four in world is beyond me as he has never performed at Grand Slams.

Talk out of your ass much? Davydenko has a very solid track record in grand slam action.
 

0range

Hall of Fame
Well I already feel completely burnt out when I played tennis 6 days a week, 2.5 hours a day in July, I can sorta imagine what Dave is going through.

I agree he should take some time off, feel refreshed, get a new coach and start fitness training... and get bigger GS ambition!
 

matchmaker

Hall of Fame
I won't miss Davydenko, one of the most colourless players on tour. Not to talk about the times he tanked against Federer. A typical Fed-Davydenko match goes like this: Davydenko is up 5-3, serving for set, he loses his serve under the pressure, he breaks to be up again with 6-5, he has several set points but fails to convert. Then, off course, he loses the tiebreak. Pffffffffff, I'd rather turn out my television than watching such type of display.
 

CyBorg

Legend
I won't miss Davydenko, one of the most colourless players on tour. Not to talk about the times he tanked against Federer. A typical Fed-Davydenko match goes like this: Davydenko is up 5-3, serving for set, he loses his serve under the pressure, he breaks to be up again with 6-5, he has several set points but fails to convert. Then, off course, he loses the tiebreak. Pffffffffff, I'd rather turn out my television than watching such type of display.

How many times have you beaten Federer?
 

Feña14

G.O.A.T.
You can understand it. Too much of anything gets boring over time.

I'm sure pretty much all of us wish we could be out there every week playing on the tour but I think i'd struggle to keep the motivation up.
 

rubberduckies

Professional
I won't miss Davydenko, one of the most colourless players on tour. Not to talk about the times he tanked against Federer. A typical Fed-Davydenko match goes like this: Davydenko is up 5-3, serving for set, he loses his serve under the pressure, he breaks to be up again with 6-5, he has several set points but fails to convert. Then, off course, he loses the tiebreak. Pffffffffff, I'd rather turn out my television than watching such type of display.

Repeat that set two more times and you get FO 07 SF. :)
 

pfchang

Professional
Well I already feel completely burnt out when I played tennis 6 days a week, 2.5 hours a day in July, I can sorta imagine what Dave is going through.

I agree he should take some time off, feel refreshed, get a new coach and start fitness training... and get bigger GS ambition!

yeah DAvy D should.

i read once that the reason why this guy stays in the top ten is because of his decent showings at a large amount of events that he plays compared to the other top 10ers.

low key as they called it.
 

wyutani

Hall of Fame
davydenko should play only the important tournaments. skip the one where the points arent many. skip the tournaments that are not masters or grand slams.:)
 

0range

Hall of Fame
yeah DAvy D should.

i read once that the reason why this guy stays in the top ten is because of his decent showings at a large amount of events that he plays compared to the other top 10ers.

low key as they called it.

They only allow certain number of tournaments to count towards ranking points, so he still needs to do well in some of the tournaments he played in order to be ranked inside top 10.
 

ezdude1970

Semi-Pro
he should dump that money grabbing wife of his, i feel that it is never enough for her. and everything will fall into places. he is a tiny dude what the hell he is doing with that horse is beyond me!
 

0range

Hall of Fame
^^^ dude are you really 38? Your baseless assumption that a woman's pretty than she must be a gold digger sounds like something coming out of a 13 yrs old.
 

nickynu

Semi-Pro
must be a Russian thing, he seems to be a Kafelnikov without Yevgenys extra little bit of talent - loads of tourneys, chasing money, disenchanted with the game, etc
 

tangerine

Professional
It's strange that he would burn out and lose his passion for tennis right after his breakthrough win in Miami earlier this year.
 
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