TENNIS in DEPTH.

Davydenko has spent the last three months sidelined due to injury, which could explain why it took the second-seeded Russian so much effort to beat Germany’s Simon Greul. In the end, he gained the upper hand with a 7-6 (7-1), 6-0 win.

“I was completely nervous to start with. I had to get back into the swing of things after my injury break,” analysed Nikolay Davydenko after his successful comeback. Just like Simon Greul, he created numerous break points in the first set. But up to the score of 5-5, none were actually taken. But then the game started to warm up. Simon Greul had defended three break points already come his sixth service game, but Davydenko did not miss his fourth opportunity.

“It was a tough game for me. The longer an injury absence endures, the harder it is to come back,” he said. “I am happy to be able to play here in Germany again.”

Roger Federer eased into the second round of the Gerry Weber Open with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen on Tuesday.

After taking the first set, Federer broke Nieminen’s serve at the start of the second and won in just over an hour.

Federer was playing as the second-ranked player for the first time in 11 months, after Rafael Nadal returned to the No. 1 spot with his victory in the French Open on Sunday.

Also, Mikhail Youzhny became the third seeded player to be knocked out of the tournament after losing to German wild card Nicolas Kiefer 4-6, 6-1, 7-5.

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