Davydenko celebrates 24th birthday early

from eurosport.com

Davydenko celebrates 24th birthday early

Nikolay Davydenko gave himself an early birthday present with victory over Spain's Tommy Robredo at the French Open on Wednesday. The Russian 12th seed, who celebrates his 24th birthday on Thursday, triumphed 3-6 6-1 6-2 4-6 6-4 for a semi-final meeting with Argentine Mariano Puerta at Roland GarrosRE-LIVE ROLAND GARROS: Davydenko v Robredo"First time in the semi-finals of a grand slam, first time in the top 10 [when rankings are released on Monday] - this is my birthday present," he said."Right now I'm tired but tomorrow I'll realise what has happened and it will feel good."Both Davydenko and Robredo struggled to hold serve throughout the three-hour 18-minute encounter on centre court.In their first meeting since competing in a Seville Challenger five years ago, Robredo started in aggressive fashion buoyed with confidence from beating Marat Safin in round four.But the Spaniard's early initiative was eroded in the second set as Davydenko clawed his way back with Robredo failing to hold serve in the second set.Davydenko, who appeared in the Australian Open quarter-finals in January, continued to command the net and looked to be on for a four set victory.But 23-year-old Robredo adopted a defensive game and harried his Russian opponent into error.The pair traded early breaks in the decisive set before Davydenko managed the telling one in the seventh game. Robredo survived three match points on his serve two games later but the Russian then served for the match and earned a fourth, with the Spaniard hitting a forehand wide to bow out."I had to fight for every ball," said the Russian. "He's better than me from the baseline so it was real tough."