Injured Davydenko to miss Australian Open
CHENNAI, India (AP)—Nikolay Davydenko will miss the Australian Open because of a heel injury that bothered him last season and has caused “unbearable” pain the past two weeks.
The fifth-ranked Russian also pulled out of the Chennai Open, where he was seeded first and was to play Lukas Dlouhy of Czech Republic in the second round. All of Wednesday’s matches were rained out.
“I can’t run and I can’t play,” he said. “I know that I may not return to the court soon.”
Davydenko said the pain in his left heel flared last week and he’s taken painkillers.
“The doctors here in Chennai have tried some therapy for a few days, but I now need to fix this before playing any more tournaments,” he said. “It’s obviously serious since I’ll even miss the Australian Open.”
Davydenko said he thought he could play through the pain last season. He was troubled by the injury at the Masters Cup in November in China, where he lost the final to Novak Djokovic.
“I need to check my heel and that’s why I’m going home, to see what’s happening and what’s wrong,” he said. “I really don’t know exact nature of my injury and the extent of damage. The pain’s been there for two months, but I thought I could continue playing since it wasn’t too painful. It has become unbearable during the past two weeks.”
Davydenko said the pain worsened last week at an exhibition in the United Arab Emirates during a match against Andy Roddick and intensified while he was playing Rafael Nadal.
“Here in Chennai, I just couldn’t do anything when I woke up today after playing my first match yesterday,” he said.
Davydenko defeated Daniel Koellerer of Austria 6-2, 6-3 Tuesday in the first round.
The 27-yar-old Russian failed to reach the quarterfinals of any of the four majors in 2008, the first time that’s happened in four years.
“What’s important,” he said, “is that I have to be fit as there are still three more Grand Slam tournaments left.”
The fifth-ranked Russian also pulled out of the Chennai Open, where he was seeded first and was to play Lukas Dlouhy of Czech Republic in the second round. All of Wednesday’s matches were rained out.
“I can’t run and I can’t play,” he said. “I know that I may not return to the court soon.”
Davydenko said the pain in his left heel flared last week and he’s taken painkillers.
“The doctors here in Chennai have tried some therapy for a few days, but I now need to fix this before playing any more tournaments,” he said. “It’s obviously serious since I’ll even miss the Australian Open.”
Davydenko said he thought he could play through the pain last season. He was troubled by the injury at the Masters Cup in November in China, where he lost the final to Novak Djokovic.
“I need to check my heel and that’s why I’m going home, to see what’s happening and what’s wrong,” he said. “I really don’t know exact nature of my injury and the extent of damage. The pain’s been there for two months, but I thought I could continue playing since it wasn’t too painful. It has become unbearable during the past two weeks.”
Davydenko said the pain worsened last week at an exhibition in the United Arab Emirates during a match against Andy Roddick and intensified while he was playing Rafael Nadal.
“Here in Chennai, I just couldn’t do anything when I woke up today after playing my first match yesterday,” he said.
Davydenko defeated Daniel Koellerer of Austria 6-2, 6-3 Tuesday in the first round.
The 27-yar-old Russian failed to reach the quarterfinals of any of the four majors in 2008, the first time that’s happened in four years.
“What’s important,” he said, “is that I have to be fit as there are still three more Grand Slam tournaments left.”
