Rainy days and Mondays fail to get Davydenko down

Nikolay Davydenko was probably the only person inside Roland Garros who was delighted to see the rain come lashing down just after 11am on Monday.

The Russian, whose first-round match against Stefano Galvani was first up on Court 1 on the second day, only arrived at the grounds at 10.55, just five minutes before he was scheduled to be on court.

But moments after his mad dash on to the court for the knock-up, the number-four seed was soon indoors again when the showers returned to further disrupt play at a rain-affected 2007 French Open.

A three-hour break enabled Davydenko to collect his thoughts and prepare properly for his match.

And when he did start, just after 2pm local time, he needed just an hour and a half to sweep aside his Italian opponent 6-3 6-1 6-1 to book his place in the second round.

Davydenko was clearly a relieved man afterwards.

“I only got here at 10.55, because there was traffic,” said the Russian number one.

“I had to go straight to the court, and I was nervous. I didn’t have time to have a shower.

“I then took the chance during the delay to get myself ready.”

The troublesome start to the day clearly did not affect Davydenko, one of the few players tipped to threaten the expected Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal duopoly over the next fortnight.

The 25-year-old lost just five games to the outplayed Galvani all match, with his serve a dominant weapon throughout.

Davydenko awaits the winner of the match between Alexandre Sidorenko of France and Austria’s Werner Eschauer, but already questions are being asked as to how far he can go this tournament.

“It’s the first round!” he replied, when asked if he could overcome Federer and Nadal and win his first grand-slam title.

“I have to go a long way yet. It’s not that I am putting it off. Everything is going well, and this was good preparation for the second round.

“I guess I must be a good player if they are talking about me beating Nadal and Federer.”