Australian Open: Davydenko and Djokovic Win

Number 6 ranked Nickolay Davydenko managed a 5 set win over number 9 Fernando Verdasco in his 4^th round Australian Open match.

Despite a closely fought match where both players looked shaky at times, the left-handed Spaniard was plagued by 20 double faults. Russian Davydenko won the match 6-2, 7-5, 4-6, 6-7.

After losing the first set easily, Verdasco went up 2-0 in the second. Davydenko broke back to win the set. In the third set, Verdasco got off to a quick 4-1 lead. Even though Davydenko was able to break back once, some badly-timed double faults and splayed forehands gave Verdasco the set.

Verdasco lost a a 5-3 lead in the fourth with serving problems of his own, putting the players back on serve. The Spaniard won the fourth set tie break, forcing a fifth. Davydenko was able to break in the sixth game of the last set and went on to the match.

Will this year's Australian Open finally be the major tournament where Davydenko breaks through and wins? He's been a presence in the men's ATP top 10 for years, but Davydenko has never gotten a great deal of respect from either tennis fans or the media. Without the grace of Federer, the flash of Nadal, or the charm of Djokovic, the stoic Russian has remained under the radar. Dubbed "Koyla the Obscure" by fans, he's often been overshadowed even in his home country by flashy tennis bad boy Marat Safin.

In 2007, the ATP launched a match-fixing investigation of one of Davydenko's matches. Davydenko was cleared of any involvement, but it took over a year for the controversy to end.

In 2009 Davydenko won the year-end ATP World Tour Finals in London. Already this year he has won against both Nadal and Federer in his 2010 Qatar ExonMobil Open victory. Davydenko now has a 9 match winning streak with his win over Verdasco, the longest in the ATP.

The Russian will now face either Roger Federer or Lleyton Hewitt in the quarter finals. Davydenko has won his last two meetings with Federer, but those were 3 set wins. Can he win against Roger in a 5-set night match at the Australian Open? The odds are against him, but this just may be Koyla's time.

Novak Djokovic had an easy day at the office in his 6-1, 6-2, 7-5 win over Lukasz Kubot . Djokovic will next play either Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Nicolas Almagro in the quarter finals. Djokovic has dropped only one set during this year's Australian Open, but he has a losing (4-2) record against likely opponent Tsonga.