Nikolay Davydenko is in action against Steve Darcis in the first round of the Erste Bank Open in Vienna.
Davydenko has found himself consistently foiled by Janko Tipsarevic over the past month, losing to the Serb in Kuala Lumpur and again in the Moscow semis last week. The Russian may have been relieved to find that they're in different tournaments this week with Tipsarevic competing in St Petersburg.
Darcis is ranked back inside the top 100 again and he came through three rounds of qualifying at the weekend although he was pushed hard by former top 30 player Simone Bolelli in the second round.
The Belgian was ranked inside the top 50 back in 2008 but he has not been at his best for some time now and he lost in the second round of the Rennes challenger a couple of weeks ago.
Davydenko will be a serious contender for the title this week and expect him to begin with a fairly emphatic straight sets victory.
