Tomas Berdych plays Nikolay Davydenko in his first match at the Kooyong Classic.
Davydenko enjoyed a fine run in Doha last week, looking like the best player in the field for much of the tournament. However after seeing off Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals he was eventually stopped by Roger Federer in straight sets. Still the Russian looks back to the sort of form which saw him heralded as a potential major winner this time last year.
Berdych had a strange week at the Chennai Open, looking in seemingly imperious form until the semi-finals where he was completely outplayed by Stanislas Wawrinka.
Berdych and Davydenko have a long history but the Czech has always struggled against the durable Russian. Berdych's sole win came on the grass of Wimbledon in 2009, a surface Davydenko is well known to hate. The Russian has won all of their other nine matches. In November at the Paris Masters, both players were woefully out of form but it was Davydenko who came through 4-6, 7-6, 6-0.
