Nikolay Davydenko: "The younger generation is not good technically"
Nikolay Davydenko , former tennis world No. 3, on the NextGen and his matches against Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: Jun 24, 2022, 12:49 pm
Nikolay Davydenko was one of the world's best players in the 2000s - even if it wasn't enough for the really big title in a Grand Slam tournament. He now works as a children's coach and had retired from professional tennis. And at times little looked at - as a commentator but then again cast a closer eye on it. His verdict: "Tennis isn't progressing much," as he told claytenis.com .
The current top players, apart from Djokovic and Nadal, "are technically not good," said Davydenko. "It's gotten more physical - strong serves, hard groundstrokes - but we still see that Nadal and Djokovic can control the new generation. They're still winning slams and beating guys ten years younger than them, which is amazing." , said the 41-year-old. "Anyway, I don't feel that the new generation is playing at an incredible level."
However, he had words of praise for Carlos Alcaraz: "He's the new Spanish Terminator! I think he has a great team with Juan Carlos Ferrero as his coach. If he stays injury-free, Alcaraz will have an incredible career."
The man without outfitter
Davydenko was also always "known" for playing in logoless clothes. "It was difficult for me to find good sponsors because I came from Russia," he says. He also had the feeling that he had only a few fans, was often "only" assigned to Court 1 or 2 - which would have suited him because he felt less pressure.
But the sponsors? Nike more or less explained to him that Federer was number 1 and that he should arrive when he was number 1. If he had become an American, things would probably have worked out with Nike, or with Adidas if he had come from Germany.
Davydenko had Nadal under control on hard court
He himself has played against the "Big 3" - with mixed results. Without a chance against Nadal on sand, but successful on hard court, "it felt like against any other opponent." In any case, everything is a question of matchups: his game went well against Nadal on hard court (balance: 5: 1 for Davydenko), but he never defeated James Blake, “because he played so fast and tried to score points with two or three shots to finish."
And Federer: "My toughest opponent." The forehand was so fast and the serve so accurate, "I could never take control against him." And at the end of a tight sentence, it was a mental thing, "he was always ahead of the game. And when things get tight, self-confidence is what counts." The guys who won against Federer like Nadal, Djokovic, Murray were physically stronger and fitter than him, Davydenko. "They played rallies for a long time, ran..." He himself couldn't last more than five hours.
He once hit it off with Djokovic when he was 16 or 17 years old and was working with Riccaro Piatti. He was surprised at how Djokovic controlled and moved the ball. Piatti told him: "Novak will be the next top player." His answer: "It looks like this."