Nikolay Davydenko burst onto the ATP circuit at the age of 20 with a combative playing style that quickly saw him climb the rankings. However, unfortunately for him, during his peak years, he found himself facing rivals like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and a young Novak Djokovic. What seemed like a career destined for success started to falter, and then came injuries, followed by a complete burnout from the sport, which took him several years to return to after his retirement.
The 43-year-old man was born in Ukraine, trained in Germany, and always represented Russia, despite having gained Austrian citizenship. A mix of nationalities and schools that led him to become a fierce opponent for anyone from 2001 onwards, when he made his mark at major tournaments and showed what he was capable of achieving.
The best period of Davydenko’s career came between 2005 and 2009, when he remained firmly in the Top 10 and reached the Top 3 for a few weeks, a time when he often gave Rafael Nadal major headaches. “For me, playing against Nadal was like playing against any other opponent. I won all our matches on hard courts, and he won all on clay,” he said in an interview with Punto de Break in 2022.
“My game suited Rafa’s on hard courts, so I didn’t have much trouble against him. On the other hand, I never managed to beat James Blake in those conditions; he hit the ball so hard and finished points quickly. Against clay court specialists, Spaniards, and Argentinians, those were the easiest matches for me on hard courts because they played long rallies with a lot of spin.”
Nikolay Davydenko wom the 2009 ATP Finals, beating Juan Martin Del Potro in the final (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
Davydenko was even dubbed the “bogeyman” of Nadal by Spanish media, having beaten the Spaniard 6 times out of 11 encounters. Those duels led the Russian to tease Nadal: “Without physical strength, he can’t do anything. He doesn’t have a serve or a volley. His strategy is to stay at the back of the court, run, and pass balls until you get tired and miss.“
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His record against Federer and Djokovic
On the other hand, he always respected Roger Federer, whom he struggled against. “I had many opportunities to beat him, but he was always better than me in the important moments of each set. I had set points, tiebreaks, but I always lost. It’s no secret that I had a mental block against Roger for many years,” he commented in that interview two years ago, recalling his 19 losses in 21 matches against the Swiss.
Davydenko celebrates victory over Rafael Nadal in 2010 ( Ian Walton/Getty Images)
However, despite this headache, Davydenko managed to stay among the top five for almost five years without winning a Grand Slam. He also had the luxury of defeating a young Novak Djokovic in the 2009 Shanghai Masters 1000 semifinal, one of his two victories over the Serbian. In that same tournament, he defeated Nadal in the final. Overall, he had a 2-6 record against the Serbian.
Injuries and tennis burnout
Davydenko was one of the best tennis players in the world, ranking behind the Big Three, when in 2010, he suffered his first serious injury: “I broke my wrist. It happened while playing in Rotterdam against Robin Soderling. I fell to the ground and hit my hand hard. I thought it was just a bruise, and even when I had an MRI, they didn’t find anything,” he told Punto de Break.
Nikolay Davydenko reacts during a match against John Isner in 2012 ( Al Bello/Getty Images)
As the medical exams ruled out a fracture, he continued playing a few more tournaments until the pain became unbearable, and the scan showed a crack: “The injury healed, but my wrist never responded the same. It became much weaker, and my two-handed backhand was severely damaged,” he explained.
Adding that he couldn’t change his game to not force his wrist. “It was too late to try a one-handed backhand, although some specialists recommended it,” he told the outlet. By then, the Top 10 was far away, and despite his efforts, he couldn’t recover the form he once had.
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Davydenko’s retirement
At the age of 33, he announced his retirement from tennis, without much noise in the media. He moved to Russia, after Germany denied him citizenship, and focused on raising his children and fishing, staying away from the media.
“In the first year, I kept dreaming about matches. I felt like I was playing them, some of them Grand Slam matches, specifically in Australia. Now, everything is forgotten, and I don’t even think about it. I don’t watch tennis, I didn’t when I was active either; there’s no point in continuing to watch it,” he revealed in a 2019 interview with Sport Express.
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However, he recently has stirred some controversy with his opinions on the careers of the Big Three, stating that Nadal and Federer couldn’t fight until the end, as well as criticizing that women have equal pay. “Male tennis players work three times harder than female players, especially in Grand Slams, so I find it very unfair that they receive the same prize. Men have to fight much harder to win a major tournament,” he said.
