Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Nikolay Davydenko's Hook, Line and Nose!


Nikolay Davydenko's Hook, Line and Nose!
Blog Post May 20th

It might have been raining from the time I woke up until 5pm, but it wasn’t frustrating for me. On my day off, I got to train at the gym for one hour and practice on an indoor court for 90 minutes. For the players competing today, it was terrible… and a terrible day for fishing!

Yes, you’ve guessed it; I’ve been out on the lake again today and caught absolutely nothing! I blame it on the weather. I promise you it hasn’t always been that way. I once caught my father, Vladimir’s, nose with my hook, when casting the rod, at the age of six. There wasn’t any blood, but I cried because I was so scared! My mother and brother thought the whole incident was hilarious.


You see my father has always enjoyed leisurely pursuits and at the age of 59 he likes to relax and watch Russian television programmes. He worked in a factory until 10 years ago. He certainly is different to my mother, Tatjana, who lives her life at 500 miles per hour, never sits down for five minutes and - if you ever visit Portschach – could be your tour guide. In the three days we’ve been here, she has walked around every street and visited every historical monument. She has so much energy.

This week is quite unique to have my whole family here, so I haven’t spent a great deal of time on-site socializing with the players in the lounge and playing card games etc. Tonight we went to an Austrian restaurant. Although I haven’t signed many autographs this week, as Portschach is very, very quiet, I did hear the restaurant owner ringing up his friends and perhaps rival eateries to say he had “Davydenko in his restaurant.” The other funny thing that has happened during my short stay here is that half the people I talk to have asked me about the house I have supposedly bought in Portschach. Yes, it is a lovely and quiet place to be, but I can hand-on-heart say that I haven’t bought any property here.

Normally today I would have watched John Isner, my next opponent, compete but due to the weather I was unable to. We won’t be meeting until Thursday, so I’ll have another practice with Eduard and Philip before I face the big-serving American. I’m in a confident mood right now and well remember my win over John at Indian Wells in March. Like my dad, I’ve had a relaxing day today, so I am hoping the sky clears and I can practice outdoors tomorrow.

Nikolay

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Photo © Nikolay Davydenko