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Davydenko's dismal run continues in Hamburg

Nikolay Davydenko is struggling for form

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Nikolay Davydenko's dismal run of form continued as he was dumped out of the German Open at the third-round stage 6-4 6-4 by world No. 82 Andrey Golubev.

The Russian, who was the defending champion in Hamburg, has now won just three of eight matches since returning from a three-month injury absence caused by a broken wrist.

Davydenko looks a pale shadow of the man who started the year in such storming form with victory over Rafael Nadal in the final of the Qatar Open.

He was beaten by Golubev, who had lost the only previous match between the players, in under 90 minutes after struggling to find any venom on his first serve.

Elsewhere, sixth seed Juan Carlos Ferrero progressed past the third round for the first time in six attempts after he produced a commanding service performance - conceding just one break point - during a 6-2 3-6 6-4 win over Jarkko Nieminen, while Jurgan Melzer recorded a 7-5 7-6(4) triumph over Jeremy Chardy.

Home favourite Philipp Kohlschreiber suffered his first career loss to Thomaz Bellucci, who took his tally this year to 28 wins by stealing a 7-5 6-4 success in a shade under two hours.

Meanwhile at the Atlanta Open, top seed Andy Roddick was pushed to three sets by fellow American Rajeev Ram but eventually won 6-1 6-7 6-3. It was world No. 9 against No. 149 so Roddick might not have expected to need two full hours on court but he managed 15 aces and kept his serve intact throughout to move past the second round safely.

Third seed Lleyton Hewitt wasn't so lucky, crashing out at the hands of Lukas Lacko 6-4 6-2. The Australian won less than half of the points on his serve while landing less than 40% of his first efforts in and, despite breaking Lacko twice, he couldn't find a foothold in the match.

Xavier Malisse survived, beating Illya Marchenko 6-3 6-3, and Kevin Anderson won 7-5 6-3 against Donald Young in the other match.

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