MORE THAN a few in Wimbledon wondered what was going through Nikolay Davydenko's head as he bowed out in the first round 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to Germany's Benjamin Becker yesterday.
The 27-year-old, ranked fourth in the world, fell to a player 112 places lower than him in straight sets in the world's biggest tournament.
What are the chances of that happening?
On the one hand Davydenko has been under investigation for a match in Poland that took place almost a year ago in which irregular betting patterns were reported to the ATP by the company Betfair. Davydenko withdrew from the match against Martin Vassello Arguello, because of injury when losing 2-6, 6-3, 2-1.
On the other hand the Russian player did not feel it necessary to play in a warm-up grass tournament prior to Wimbledon (nor did the Williams sisters) and has lost in the first round on four of his previous six appearances at London SW19.
Match fixing has been an ongoing topic of hot debate in tennis since Davydenko's problem arose, and at Roland Garros this year tournament officials tried to have all betting on the tournament prohibited, a case they lost hands down in the French courts.
Yesterday the inevitable questions arose about the ATP's investigation. Davydenko again expressed his bemusement and wish that it would end soon and expects a decision in July.
"They wanted telephone records. It's already done," he said.
"It is long, me waiting one year. I call the telephone companies. They say we have no telephone records from July and August (2007) from my brother.
"I was upset," Davydenko added about the length of time the investigation is taking. "But what can I do? I cannot sue the ATP because the ATP are only investigating. But sue Betfair? Also no chance because Betfair just say to the press what's happening in match-fixing. I speak with my lawyer. It's not possible. No chance."
Davydenko's ongoing problems were a variation to yesterday's run of results that favoured the seeds.
America's Andy Roddick, so comprehensively defeated by Rafael Nadal in the semi-final at Queen's just over two weeks ago, quickly reinvented himself as a handy winner against Argentina's Eduardo Schwank. And rightly so as he has never lost at Wimbledon in the first round.
Schwank, aged 22 and ranked 60th in the world, refused to totally fold in the face of the former US Open winner.
Roddick, who has carried a shoulder problem with him into the tournament, took the first set 7-5 and the second 6-4 and finally won the match in the third on a tiebreak, where his experience showed through in winning it to love.
"He hit the ball better than the score indicates," said Roddick afterwards.
"First-round matches are always a little uncomfortable at any Slam. It's a battle with nerves, a battle with anxiety."
The way Andy Murray tossed his wristbands into the Centre Court crowd indicated his anxieties were entirely dissipated after he had played well enough to make a dent in the draw.
Beating Fabrice Santoro 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 in the last match of the evening with some impressively crushing forehands was a sweet return for the Scot, who missed the tournament last year through injury.
It was unknown how effective the top British player, who split with coach Brad Gilbert in 2007, would be as he defaulted in the quarter-final at Queen's with a thumb injury before meeting Roddick.
Murray's best performance here was in 2006, when he made the round of 16 before bowing out to Marcos Baghdatis.
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