Nikolay Davydenko Beats John Isner, Will Play In Semis

Nikolay Davydenko has beaten top-seeded John Isner on Thursday, and will now compete in the semi-finals of the Open de Nice tournament.

Isner (6-4, 7-6 (4)) finished the match with 13 aces, however Davydenko saved three break points, and broke his opponent once in the first set, according to The Washington Post.

Davydenko will join second-seeded Gilles Simon and No. 3 ranked Nicolas Almagro, who also won their matches on Thursday.

The Russian, Davydenko, was once ranked No. 3, according to Yahoo News. He will play the winner of the match between American Brian Baker and Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan.

Gilles Simon, who grew up in Nice, did not face any break points in a 7-5, 6-0 victory against Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci on thursday. He and Nicolas Almagro will play against each other for a spot in Saturday’s final.

Bellucci beat Belgium’s Steve Darcias 6-4, 6-4 to reach the semifinals, reports Yahoo News.

Brian Baker is a 27-year-old semi-retired player, who is currently coaching at an american university, according to Nine MSN. He last won in 2005 on the AP Tour, before the tournament started, stunning the world No. 13 Gael Monfils in the last round of the tournament.

Nikolay Davydenko also performed well in the Mutua Madrid Open earlier this month, where he defeated Croatian opponent, Ivo Karlovic, in straight sets 7-6(4), 6-3 in the opening match, according to Talys Darren at Bettor.com. Davydenko stated of his match against Spanish Rafael Nadal that:

“He has less confidence against me on hard court; I have beaten him more times there. On the clay I have never beaten him. He is the best player on clay for sure.”

Nikolay Davydenko will play again on Friday and Saturday, provided he wins the semifinals match.