Umpire warns: Play harder
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — Top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko, interviewed in a suspicious match earlier this year, said he was warned for not playing hard enough by the chair umpire in his loss to Marian Cilic at the St. Petersburg Open on Thursday.
Davydenko won the first set in 27 minutes, but drew a rebuke from chair umpire Jean-Philippe Dercq in the third set before succumbing 1-6, 7-5, 6-1.
"When I made a double fault, he gave me a notice for a wrong behavior on the court as if I was throwing the match," Davydenko said. "I was surprised. I’ve never heard anything like this before. No matter how I’d played, no matter what had happen to me, I was never given such a notice."
