Nikolay Davydenko, the gentle giant

The year 2010 has belonged to Nikolay Davydenko so far. DNA has the hottest star on the tour to discuss preparation for the Australian Open and many other things in a candid interview. Excerpts:

What’s your aim in 2010?
Last year wasn’t such a good one for me because I had some problems with injuries. Maybe I was playing too much. So I think this year it is very important for me to stay fit and make sure that I have no injuries. If I can do that, hopefully I can play some good tennis and get good results. I have finished in top 10 for the last few years now and I want to do that again.

How prepared are you for the Australian Open?
Good. I had a short break after winning the ATP World Tour Finals. I tried to work on my physical fitness because winning Grand Slams takes a lot out of you physically. Also, I think winning the title in Doha was good for me and I have also been in Melbourne for more than a week to get used to the heat.

You have not won a major yet.
Everyone wants to win a Slam and hopefully this year I can win one but it doesn’t worry me what other people think. I just want to focus on my game and play tennis. Hopefully winning in London last year will help a little bit but playing good, consistent tennis is what I want to do.

Do you still have doubts about winning a Grand Slam?
If Grand Slams were played in best-of-three sets, no. But I would enjoy, you know, to win a Grand Slam, maybe every one, because in three sets winning matches is easier. When it is best-of-five sets it is much more physical and harder on your body. For the Australian Open I will need to have very good physical preparation because you need to run not like two hours...you need to run for four hours and in hot conditions too. I still think I can win a Grand Slam once in my career. I have beaten everyone in the top 10. This year, I have already beaten Roger and Rafa. So hopefully I can do that in a Grand Slam and win the title.

Do you purposely keep a low profile?
No, I don’t, it is just that perhaps Roger and Rafa are more famous than me and get more attention. But it doesn’t worry me because I just want to play tennis, so perhaps it is better for me not to be as famous.

Ten years as a professional, do you think your best is yet to come?
Everyone is, you know, different but I still have some good tennis ahead of me. There is a lot that I want to still achieve, like winning a Slam and some more ATP Masters tournaments...the bigger tournaments of the tour. Last year winning the London finals gave me a lot of confidence for the 2010 season, so maybe that will help me play better tennis this year.

How much of a relief was it to be cleared of match-fixing charges?
I knew that I had done nothing wrong, so it was never a relief. I just tried to, you know, concentrate on playing tennis and making good results. It was hard playing during that time because everyone kept talking about it — press, fans, people at tournaments. It meant that I was becoming familiar for the wrong reasons. The ATP helped me a lot and I had the support of my family.

How did you cope with all the negative attention?
It was really surprising how well I coped because it was a difficult time for me. However, I was still able to make good results. It really stays in your mind and you stay under pressure from the press, the fans, from people everywhere in the world. And everywhere in the world, the press began asking me about betting and all kinds of stuff. Every tournament that I played...It was very tough to play. I would have liked, you know, to have stopped playing tennis for a couple of months. I didn’t want to play. But really I don’t know why I kept playing. Maybe because I have a good coach...and my family really supported me. Gave me, you know, the chance to just forget everything and really concentrate on tennis. I tried to forget everything very quickly.

Did Agassi’s confessions take you by surprise?
I think everyone was a little bit surprised. For me I don’t worry too much about what he said, because, it is for him you know to talk about, not me.