Tennis-Workaholic Davydenko marches on in Beijing

BEIJING, Sep 13 (Reuters) Russian second seed Nikolay Davydenko shook off the effects of jet lag to register a 6-3 6-4 victory over Dane Kenneth Carlsen in the first round of the China Open today.

Four days after losing to Roger Federer in the semi-finals of the US Open, the second seed cruised through the opening match of his 27th tournament of the season to set up a clash with Slovenian Luka Gregorc.

''Yes I feel a little bit tired,'' Davydenko said. ''It's very nice that the organisers allowed me to move this match from yesterday evening to this morning. Yesterday I would have had no chance but today I felt like I could win.'' The world number five has enjoyed a good return on his busy schedule this year, winning titles at Poertschach, Sopot and New Haven and reaching the quarter-finals at the Australian and French Opens and the last four at Flushing Meadow.

The 25-year-old, however, loses more than his fair share of opening matches at tournaments, a habit which recalls the career of his compatriot Yevgeny Kafelnikov.

''Maybe it's because I'm Russian, Kafelnikov also played 30 tournaments a year. I want to play more, 31 maybe 32,'' he laughed.

''I've lost in the first round at 10 tournaments this year but I've done well in 16. If you lose in the first round, that leaves time to practise and rest.

''That's why I like to play every week. If I lose in the first round, I don't care, I just try to get a good result in the next week.'' Despite his fatigue, there was no danger of an early exit today.

Davydenko's accuracy gave Carlsen nothing to play with in the first set and when the journeyman Dane did break early in the second, the Russian merely changed his racket and broke back.

Facing three break points in the next game, Davydenko battled back to deuce before slamming the door in his 33-year-old opponent's face with a couple of resounding aces.

Davydenko needs to maintain his good form to stay in the frame for a return to Shanghai for the Masters Cup in November and to achieve his goal of improving his career-high ranking.

''Federer and (Rafael) Nadal are number one and number two but if I play well, I can finish in the top three,'' he said.

Slovakia's Dominik Hrbaty became the first seed to reach the quarter-finals of the 0,000 tournament when he survived a second set implosion to beat Austrian Alexander Peya 6-1 2-6 6-0.

The fifth seed will face Croatian fourth seed Mario Ancic or Italy's Stefano Galvani in the last eight.

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