Montanes shocks Davydenko in Montpellier quarters
MONTPELLIER, France (AP)—Sixth-seeded Albert Montanes of Spain rallied from a set and break down to beat top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko 3-6, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4) in the quarterfinals of the Open Sud de France on Friday.
Montanes won on his third match point when Davydenko’s weak backhand hit the net. The Spaniard will play either fourth-seeded Ivan Ljubicic or Jarkko Nieminen in his first career indoor semifinal.
“It was a very hard game and I was fortunate enough to be able to break back in the second set,” Montanes said. “It’s my first semifinal indoors and everything is going well for me. This gives me a lot of confidence for the rest of the tournament.”
Third-seeded Gael Monfils also advanced to the last four after beating No. 5 John Isner of the United States 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. Isner had 12 aces in the match to pass 1,000 for the season.
Monfils plays either No. 2 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Gilles Simon in the semis, guaranteeing a French finalist.
“It’s great news that either Jo, Gilles or I will be in the final,” Monfils said. “It’s good for the tournament to have a Davis Cup player in the final.”
Davydenko’s seventh ace gave him the opening set and he looked in control when he broke for a 2-0 lead in the second with a superb crosscourt winner.
But a sloppy sixth game ended with Davydenko’s two-handed backhand into the net, allowing Montanes to pull even at 3-3. Davydenko then missed another chance in the 11th game when Montanes saved a break point with a net volley.
Montanes wasted his first match point, serving at 5-4 in the third set, as Davydenko pressured him into unforced errors on his backhand.
But Montanes broke straight back for another chance to close out on serve at 6-5, then missed his second match point when Davydenko’s crisp forehand bounced inside the line.
Related posts:
- Monfils, Ljubicic, Montanes into Monpellier quarters
- Soderling breezes past Monfils in Valencia quarters
- Montanes into quarters in Buenos Aires (AP)
- Simon ousts Davydenko in Valencia quarterfinals
- Montanes advances to quarters of Buenos Aires
