Nikolay Davydenko crumbled at the Madrid Masters as American qualifier Robby Ginepri dumped him out.
Russian loses focus to crash out in Madrid second round
Fifth seed Nikolay Davydenko crumbled at the Madrid Masters as American qualifier Robby Ginepri came from a set down to knock the Russian out of the tournament.
Australian Open finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga needed a final-set tie-breaker to defeat Marcel Granoolers, while big-serving Ivo Karlovic needed two breakers to get beyond Robin Soederling.
David Nalbandian was on the wrong end of a tie-breaker against Tomas Berdych but still managed to pull through in three sets.
Davydenko took the opening set against the American but then completely lost his focus and Ginepri hit back to win 4-6 6-4 6-4.
Ginepri now goes on to meet fellow surprise winner Gilles Simon in the next round, after the Frenchman put out James Blake on Tuesday.
Shanghai Blow
The defeat is a big blow for Davydenko who is desperate to make the season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai but recent results have not helped his chances.
Chasing one of the four remaining places in the finale, Davydenko's second round defeat in Madrid comes on the back of his quarter-final exit at the Kremlin Cup and those results have hit his chances.
16th seed in Madrid, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, also came close to a surprise exit before coming through a final set tie-break to beat a gallant Marcel Granollers 3-6 6-3 7-6.
Cheered on by his home crowd, Spanish qualifier took the first set impressively and despite losing the second Granollers hit back in the third.
Tsonga needed a spectacular overhead backhand volley to cancel out a Granollers break of serve and force a tie-break - which went the Frenchman's way 7-5.
"I don't feel forgotten," said Tsonga after his 25th win of the season. "But the injury was very difficult for me.
"I've only played 10 or 11 events and I'm ranked 15th in the world - what would have happened had I been healthy and played 20?
"It's not really important to me if I'm remembered or not right now. All I want to do is to play my tennis and try to do the best possible on the court."
Big-serving Croatian Ivo Karlovic had to fight hard against Swede Robin Soderling, and in the end only two tie-breakers settled their second round tie.
After losing the first set, german Tomas Berdych took a second-set breaker to level his match wioth David Nalbandian.
However, the Argentinian number seven seed came storming back in the third to take the win 6-2 6-7 6-1.
