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Blake lashes into Davydenko over scathing comments

Defending champion James Blake won through to the semi-finals at the Sydney International and then criticized No. 3-ranked Nikolay Davydenko for making disparaging comments about the tournament.

Davydenko, picked up a US$10,000 fine yesterday from the ATP for saying "nobody care" about the tournament, a traditional warmup for the Australian Open starting on Monday in Melbourne.

After a 6-1, 6-4 quarterfinals win over Russian qualifier Evgeny Korolev, Blake said Davydenko's remarks were "silly" and did not represent the wider view of players.

"I play tournaments to go in thinking that I can win them, and that's the reason I'm playing here. I hope I get a chance to hold up that trophy again," he said. "I'm extremely proud that I won it last year, so I don't think anyone looks at it as a secondary title."

Davydenko retired with a foot injury after losing the first set of his opening match in Sydney, saying he was not overly concerned about what he described as the smaller tournaments.

The 25-year-old Russian player was on his way to Melbourne yesterday while Blake was still at work in Sydney, where he will meet Jurgen Melzer in the semifinals after the Austrian player's 6-2, 6-4 win over Tomas Berdych.

Another four players retired during early round matches, including No. 2-ranked Rafael Nadal, before Davydenko withdrew.

Blake said that Davydenko's remarks were ill-conceived.

"It's a bit disconcerting to hear someone talk about a tournament and not show the respect it deserves, especially when they're playing here," Blake said.

"You would think you would want to have those people that are paying the money, you'd want to show them the respect because they're the ones that are making you a millionaire," he said.

"I don't know how many of those people that paid for tickets are here to watch Davydenko, but there's some, and in my mind he should be thankful for that," Blake said.

Davydenko, who played more tournaments than any other top 10 player last season, has never won a Grand Slam title, but has collected more than US$5.2 million in prize money in seven seasons on the elite men's tour.

The ATP said Davydenko was fined for "unsportsmanlike conduct."
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