Top Seed Davydenko Unstoppable in Metz
Posted on October 8, 2005Top seed Nikolay Davydenko continued to roll at the the 2005 Open de Moselle, following a 6-3, 6-1 pasting over Italian Andreas Seppi.
The 58-minute win put the vanilla-ish Davydenko against Gael “Force” Monfils, who ousted countrymen and fellow teen Richard Gasquet 7-6(3), 6-2 in the semifinals.
Said Monfils: ”I am happy about this result. I however don't see it as revenge from last year. Richard is my friend and I think and hope we will have many more matches to play against each other. When I came back from 3-5 in the first set, I think he may have rushed a little and lost his concentration. It was only a few key points that turned around the situation.”
In the other semifinal, Ivan Ljubicic and Dominik Hrbaty will lock-up. Ljubicic, a finalist this year Doha, Marseille, Rotterdam and Dubai, overcame a set deficit edge Robin Soderling 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-4 in two hours and 1 minute. Ljubicic never dropped his serve and fired 24 aces in the entire match.
Hrbaty also needed three sets to upend the suddenly rejuvenated Mark Philippoussis in the last quarterfinals of the day. The 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 win was Hrbaty’s first career win over the Australian.