CHENNAI: Qualifier Flavio Cipolla of Italy pulled off the first big surprise of the tournament, shocking second seed Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland 6-4, 6-1 in the first round at centre court today.
In another first-round match, twotime champion Carlos Moya of Spain made short work of Thai qualifier Danai Udomchoke, winning 6-3, 7-6 (4). Moya used his serve and forehand effectively to seal victory.
Top seed Nikolay Davydenko of Russia moved into the second round, defeating Daniel Koellerer of Austria 6-2, 6-3 on the second day of the Chennai Open here on Tuesday. Although Davydenko advanced it was far from smooth sailing for a man of his ranking and experience.
On quite a few occasions Koellerer made the world No.5 dance to his tune by making the Russian come forward and then making him run back to retrieve his lobs and delicate drop shots.
The Austrian started the match in confident fashion, winning the first game without conceding a point. As the match progressed Davydenko shed his rustiness and got into his groove.
He broke Koellerer in the sixth and eighth games to take the first set. Davydenko entertained the crowd with his classy double-handed backhand returns.
Although Davydenko made mistakes he played the big points better and this was the difference between the two.
Koellerer put up a better show in the second set. At times he was brilliant but lacked consistency.
Davydenko broke the Austrian in the eighth game to take control of the match.
The Russian closed out the match in style in the next game by firing three aces.
“The early matches of the new season are always tricky, irrespective of who you are playing against and where you had finished last year,” said Davydenko, who finished among the top five for the fourth successive year in 2008.
“I was consistent, but can’t say I’m not confident with the manner I played today,” admitted the Russian, that he was indeed a bit rusty.
Analysing his game, Davydenko said: “My service was OK, but I wasn’t pleased with my baseline game and kept waiting for my opponent to make mistakes.
“Winning matches and good results isn’t the same thing. To me, a good result is the reflection of how I feel about my play.” Davydenko’s second-round opponent on Wednesday will be Paes’ doubles partner Lukas Dlouhy of Czech Republic.
“It’s the start of a new season with lots to discover. I just wish to play in the same manner, but with better baseline strokes,” said Masters Cup finalist Davydenko when queried about his second-round match.