Nikolay Davydenko came down hard on German Philipp Kohlschreiber at the China Open, bringing home a crushing 6-1, 6-0 win in less than a hour as the Russian followed up on a weekend title in Malaysia.
Fourth seed Davydenko, was untouchable in victory, breaking the 22nd-ranked Kohlschreiber six times to reach the quarterfinals.
The Russian next faces eighth seed Marin Cilic, who beat Frenchman Julien Benneteau 6-2, 2-6, 6-0 and didn’t drop a point on serve in the concluding set.
Davydenko, 28, is playing in the Chinese capital for the third time in four years, standing 5-2. He reached the quarterfinals in his 2006 debut but had to retire against Thai Paradorn Srichaphan.
He will be out for revenge against Cilic after losing to the Croatian a year later in the Beijing second round.
On the women’s WTA side of the draw, Russian number 39 qualifier Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova beat Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak 6-4, 6-4 two days after knocking out Venus Williams for the second time in as many weeks in Asia.
Sixth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, champion three years ago, overcame a second-set letdown to defeat Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine 6-3, 4-6, 6-0.
