Davydenko advances in Austria
Nikolay Davydenko has tuned-up for the French Open by advancing in the Hypo Group Tennis International with a win over Rainer Eitzinger.
The world No. 4, Davydenko has struggled of late, suffering early upsets at the last two ATP Masters Series events in Rome and Hamburg. But the Russian bounced back against Eitzinger, needing just 59 minutes to dispatch the hometown favourite 6-1,6-1.
It marked the latest dominant victory here for Davydenko, who won this tournament - the last claycourt event before the French Open - in 2006 and 2005.
A quarter-finalist here last year and the top seed this season, Davydenko will face either Italian wild card Simone Vagnozzi or American John Isner in the second round.
Sixth-seeded Italian Andreas Seppi also advanced Monday courtesy of a 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Latvia's Ernests Gulbis.
Fifth-seeded American Sam Querrey and No. 7 Mario Ancic of Croatia also were slated to play on Monday. But their matches were postponed, as the later portion of the day's schedule was suspended due to rain.
Other first-round winners Monday were Jurgen Melzer, Jiri Vanek, Ivan Navarro and Daniel Gimeno-Traver.