Football
Associated Press 17y

Davydenko upset, Baghdatis reaches quarterfinals at Halle

HALLE, Germany -- Nikolay Davydenko struggled again on grass
Thursday, losing to Florian Mayer 6-4, 6-4 in the second round of
the Gerry Weber Open.

The second-seeded Russian, who reached the semifinals last week
at the French Open, is 2-12 on grass. He has lost four times in the
first round of Wimbledon in five years and has never won
consecutive matches on grass.

"My coach says for these four weeks on grass, just take a
holiday," Davydenko said. "Otherwise I just get disappointed,
frustrated."

Mayer, a 37th-ranked German, forced Davydenko out of his game
with low, fast shots.

"He didn't hit winners," Davydenko said. "But after the ball
was so low you have no chance to hit it back. What do you do?"

Mayer, who reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 2004, faces
Marcos Baghdatis on Friday in the quarterfinals. The eighth-seeded
Baghdatis came back from a break down in the final two sets to beat
Robin Soderling 6-7 (9), 6-4, 6-3.

"First set, he served very, very well," Baghdatis said. "The
second set he broke me and then I just tried to focus on a corner,
like a penalty in soccer."

A double fault by the 28th-ranked Soderling handed Baghdatis a
decisive break in the fifth game of the final set.

The 18-ranked Cypriot reached the 2006 Australian Open final and
Wimbledon semifinals.

"For sure, this time I want to do better and win the title at
Wimbledon -- that's my goal," Baghdatis said. "Now I play good on
grass. I played on it a couple of times as a junior and was really
bad."

Baghdatis fell four times on the slippery grass of center court.
He even cut his knee, but said it did not affect his play.

Sixth-seeded Mikhail Youzhny pulled out Thursday with a back
injury, giving Tomas Berdych a spot in the semifinals.

"I really would like to have won the title here at the Gerry
Weber Open," Youzhny said. "This is too bad for the tournament
here in Halle."

Berdych, Baghdatis and James Blake are the favorites following
the withdrawal of Roger Federer, the four-time champion who lost to
Rafael Nadal last week in the French Open final.

"I'm definitely a favorite now, but there are many good
players," Baghdatis said. "Your really have to concentrate. Two
or three stupid mistakes and a break and you are out."

Jarkko Nieminen beat lucky loser Andrei Pavel, 7-6 (5), 3-6,
6-1. The Romanian got into the field when Federer withdrew.

In the quarterfinals, Nieminen faces Marc Gicquel, who beat
Benjamin Becker of Germany 6-2, 7-6 (5).

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