Andreev Misses Golden Chance to Upset Davydenko

Russian Igor Andreev was left ruing a litany of unforced errors against countryman Nikolay Davydenko after blowing a golden chance to reach the semifinals of the Masters Series Monte-Carlo. Every time Andreev put himself in position to stage an upset of the No. 4 seed he was brought undone by careless errors.

His plight was no better illustrated than in the final game of the match. Andreev was poised to extend the match to a third-set tie-break after jumping to a 40-0 lead on serve. But after a double fault and three consecutive unforced backhand errors, Andreev found himself staring down match point and responded with a very loose forehand that flew well long of the baseline.

Andreev led 3-1 in the first set but Davydenko rallied to win five straight games to take the early advantage. Andreev again led 3-1 in the third set but dropped serve twice to go down 3-5. Andreev broke and then held for 5-5 before seeing Davydenko win the final two games of the match.

Davydenko is chasing his second consecutive ATP Masters Series title following his recent victory in Miami. The top-ranked Russian boasts an ATP-high 27 match wins (27-6) on the season, (19-5 on hard, 8-1 on clay) and improved to 5-0 in quarterfinal matches this year.

He has won 13 of his past 14 matches in his past three ATP events, with his only loss coming to Roger Federer in last Sunday's Estoril final, when the Russian retired in the second set with a left leg injury.

Davydenko will play Rafael Nadal in the semifinals.

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