Out-of-sorts seed Nikolay Davydenko was dumped out in his opening match at the Mercedes Cup on Thursday, failing to rally past Spain’s Daniel Gimeno-Traver on the clay.
The Russian world number six, twice a semifinalist at the Weissenhof club, was beaten 6-7 (7-9), 6-2, 1-6 as his struggle to return to form after a broken wrist becomes more serious.
The Stuttgart setback comes after the seed was beaten in two of three rubbers in the weekend’s Davis Cup quarterfinal loss for Russia against Argentina in Moscow.
Davydenko’s loss came in his first clay match in almost year after last playing on the surface in August in Croatia. He missed three months of 2010 as his wrist healed, unable to compete at the French Open.
Number 88 Gimeno-Traver took full advantage of his seeded opponent’s fragile game, firing a dozen aces while breaking Davydenko on three of 11 chances.
He next faces the winner from Swiss Marco Chiudinelli and German Bjorn Phau.
Davydenko’s loss was his seventh of this abbreviated season against 17 wins. The Russian managed just three aces but struck six doubles faults in a match lasting just over two hours.
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