Nikolay Davydenko has advanced to the second round of the Chennai Open after beating Daniel Koellerer 6-2 6-3 on Tuesday.
Straight sets win for top seed
Nikolay Davydenko has advanced to the second round of the Chennai Open after beating Daniel Koellerer 6-2 6-3 on Tuesday.
The Russian top seed took victory in 72 minutes, winning the opening set with breaks in the sixth and eighth games.
However, Koellerer, who is ranked 123rd in the world, offered greater resistance in the second set, the energetic Austrian keeping the centre court crowd entertained with some delicate drop shots.
Davydenko, who finished in the top five in the world rankings for the fourth straight year in 2008, broke his opponent in the eighth game and sealed the match with his eighth ace.
"The early matches of the new season are always tricky, irrespective of who you are playing against and where you'd finished last year," said Davydenko.
"I was consistent, but can't say I'm not confident with the manner I played today.
"My service was OK, but I wasn't pleased with my baseline game and kept waiting for my opponent to make mistakes.
Wawrinka out
"Winning matches and good results isn't the same thing. To me, a good result is the reflection of how I feel about my play."
Swiss second seed Stanislas Wawrinka was dumped out at the first hurdle after he lost 6-4 6-1 to qualifier Flavio Cipolla.
Both players found their serve under pressure in a keenly-contested first set before the Italian prevailed after he twice broke Wawrinka.
The second was a completely different prospect, though, as Cipolla brushed aside his opponent to set up a second-round clash with German Bjorn Phau.
Fourth-seeded Ivo Karlovic of Croatia and two-time Chennai Open champion Carlos Moya of Spain also advanced to the second round.
Karlovic recovered to beat Rajeev Ram of the United States 6-4 6-3, while the sixth-seeded Moya overcame Danai Udomchoke of Thailand 6-3 7-6.
Number seven seed Janko Tipsarevic also powered into round two with a 6-3 6-2 victory over Pablo Andujar of Spain.
