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| Croatia’s Ivan Dodig hits a return to Spain’s Rafael Nadal at the Rogers Cup tennis tournament in Montreal, on Wednesday |
Nadal now has more work to do to regain the world number one ranking from Novak Djokovic, who shook off a slow start to beat Nikolay Davydenko and continue his winning ways.
Dodig, ranked 41st in the world, fired 19 aces in a 1-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/5) victory over Nadal, who took to the court with a sinus infection but still ran away with the first set.
“Honestly, I didn’t feel I played bad... but I can’t say I played well. In the decisive moments, I didn’t play well, that’s the truth,” the Spanish world number two said.
Dodig used his big serve to mount a comeback and eventually to give himself a chance of victory when he fired down a 135 mile an hour (217 kilometre an hour) ace to take a 6-5 lead in the third-set tiebreaker.
He took the match on the next point with a backhand that Nadal could not return.
“This is the biggest win of my career, of my life,” said an excited Dodig.
“I enjoyed it so much. I was fighting hard for every point. In the end I managed, I’m really happy.”
Djokovic, who reached the third round with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Davydenko, has now won 49 of the 50 matches he has played this season.
He rose to number one in the world in the wake of his Wimbledon triumph, ending Nadal’s 56-week reign atop the rankings.
Djokovic, a winner in Montreal in 2007, broke Davydenko seven times in a match originally scheduled for Tuesday but pushed back a day by rain.
Results
First round: John Isner (USA) bt Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) 6-3, 6-4; Feliciano Lopez (ESP) bt Radek Stepanek (CZE) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4; Fernando Verdasco (ESP x15) bt Tobias Kamke (GER) 5-7, 6-3, 6-3
Second round: Tomas Berdych (CZE x7) bt Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr. (UKR) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3; Ivo Karlovic (CRO) bt Philipp Petzschner (GER) 6-7 (0/7), 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (8/6); Roger Federer (SUI x3) bt Vasek Pospisil (CAN) 7-5, 6-3; Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA x13) bt Bernard Tomic (AUS) 6-3, 7-6 (7/1); Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI x14) bt Michael Russell (USA) 6-3, 6-2; Nicolas Almagro (ESP x8) bt Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) 6-2, 7-6 (7/5); Ivo Karlovic (CRO) bt Philipp Petzschner (GER) 6-7 (0/7), 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (8/6); Novak Djokovic (SRB x1) bt Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) 7-5, 6-1; Gael Monfils (FRA x5) bt Alex Bogomolov (USA) 6-2, 7-6 (7/5); Richard Gasquet (FRA x10) bt Thomaz Bellucci (BRA) 6-1, 6-4; Marin Cilic (CRO) bt Juan Martin del Potro (ARG x16) 6-3, 6-4; Viktor Troicki (SRB) bt John Isner (USA) 6-4, 3-6, 6-2; Ernests Gulbis (LAT) bt Michael Llodra (FRA) 6-4, 1-0, retired; Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) bt Fernando Verdasco (ESP x15) 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3; Ivan Dodig (CRO) bt Rafael Nadal (ESP x2) 1-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/5); Mardy Fish (USA x6) bt Feliciano Lopez (ESP) 6-2, 6-3.