ATP Valencia Quarterfinals: Davydenko vs. Garcia Lopez

Valencia , Spain – London hopeful, Russian Nikolay Davydenko is set to take on Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the quarterfinals on Friday. Davydenko, the second seed, is a strong contender for a berth in the semis and bookies tip him as the solid favourite to advance. Guillermo Garica Lopez, unseeded in Valencia, will hope to defy the odds against him and land a spot in the semis at the expense of the bookies favourite. He will be looking to an almost all-Spanish crowd to spur him on to what will be a significant upset.

Tennis Betting Line: Guillermo Garcia Lopez +300 Nikolay Davydenko -500

Match Time: 10:30 A.M. Eastern Time Friday November 6, 2009

Tennis Betting Verdict: Nikolay Davydenko has been accused of being the top-ten janitor over his career. Whenever top players like Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray are absent from a tournament you could rely on Davydenko to sweep up titles. He has always been consistent when the top foursome are around and even more so when they are not.

Recently, however, Davydenko put paid on that notion as he raced to the Shanghai Masters title beating world No.3 Novak Djokovic and world No.2 Rafael Nadal in succession to lift the eighth Masters Shield on the calendar. It was Davydenko’s second title on the Asian swing after winning the inaugural Malaysian Open, beating top 20 opponents Gael Monfils, Robin Soderling and Fernando Verdasco in succession en route to the title.

Indeed, Davydenko has been boasting some scintillating form since the US Open R16 wherein he retired against Robin Soderling. Since the US Open, he has gone 11-2 with two titles. The only hiccup on his resume was a first round exit to Marat Safin in Moscow.

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, weighs in at No.47 in the world. That he has nothing on world No.7 Davydenko goes without saying. Not only does he have a significant “on paper” disadvantage, but he also trails 0-1 lifetime against Davydenko after the Russian dismantled him in Moscow last year 6-1, 6-1 in the last 16.

The only thing Garcia-Lopez has for him is the obvious home edge. However, even a packed house with Spanish fans will not be enough to derail Davydenko. His best would be to lose respectably.

Tennis Free Picks: Davydenko in straight sets