The Hindu : Sport : Defeated Davydenko gamely handles questions

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Defeated Davydenko gamely handles questions

— PHOTO: AFP

RESURGENT: Gilles Muller, who fell off the radar after showing promise three years back, looks like he is finding form.

New York: For more than a year, the cloud of a gambling investigation has hovered over Nikolay Davydenko. So after he lost to a qualifier ranked 130th at the US Open, the question was inevitable. Did he feel a need, Davydenko was asked on Tuesday, to explain how in the world Gilles Muller upset him?

“I can beat everyone and I can lose to everyone,” the fifth-seeded Russian said, without a hint of anger or agitation. “Normally I have a chance to win, but I didn’t. What can I say? Not a thing about (the) investigation or something else.”

The gambling probe began in August 2007 after Davydenko pulled out of a match in Poland against lowly Martin Vassallo Arguello in the third set because of a bad foot. An online betting agency voided all wagers, citing an inordinate amount of money put on the match, including lots of bets for Arguello, even after he lost the first set. ATP investigators spoke to Davydenko, his wife and family members and reviewed telephone records. This summer, Davydenko said he may have inadvertently tipped off bettors by talking too loudly about his injury to his wife during the tournament.

There has been no official word from tennis officials on the outcome of the investigation.

Sticking around

Gilles Muller turned down tickets to Thursday’s NFL opener at Giants Stadium because he expected to be home by then. It turns out that he’ll still be in town late in the second week of the US Open, but he wouldn’t have been able to make the game, anyway.

The world’s 130th-ranked player has a date on Thursday with four-time defending champion Roger Federer in the quarterfinals. The left-hander from Luxembourg became just the second qualifier in the 40-year Open era to advance this far.

Muller joked that he was used to watching the later rounds from home. “On my sofa, watching on TV,” Muller said. “Now I’m here, and I’m in it.”

Muller has played mostly on the lower-level Challenger circuit this year, but he’s no newcomer to big upsets at Majors. In 2005, he beat Rafael Nadal in the second round at Wimbledon and Andy Roddick in the first round at the US Open when each was ranked third. Now Muller will probably climb into the top 65 in the rankings and is guaranteed at least $160,000 in prize money. He’d made just $74,851 this year.

So American football will have to wait.

Who’s No. 1?

Winning the US Open would make Elena Dementieva the top-ranked woman in the world.

Even so, she’s not sure who’s really the best right now.

“There is no No. 1 for the moment,” the fifth-seeded Russian beauty said after coasting past Patty Schnyder of Switzerland. “Because, well, I don’t know. Maybe the competition is too tough. It’s quite open for a few players.”

Serena Williams, Jelena Jankovic and Dinara Safina could wind up as No. 1, as could top-seeded Ana Ivanovic despite her early upset loss at Flushing Meadows.

“I think probably the most consistent player is Jelena Jankovic,” Dementieva said.

Dementieva won the Olympic gold medal and is trying to win her first Grand Slam championship. She has won all 10 sets she’s played in this tournament.

“I feel I need to improve my game,” she said. “I really feel that there are some players out there that are very powerful. I need to be a stronger player. I need to improve my serve.” — AP

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