Nikolay Davydenko in Australian Open Tennis 2008

Nikolay Davydenko has seen an excellent last year with reaching semi final in both French Open and U.S. Open. Last year, he experienced his lowest performance in Wimbledon losing at the fourth round. It shows the consistency he maintained last year, with no grand slam exit before fourth round. The Russian is now the world no. 4 with no grand slam title to his credit. Now, ahead of Australian Open 2008, the Russian is busy with a betting scandal, which he denied.

Guardian reported:

"Everything that is written is not true," Davydenko said on Saturday.

"I am clean and I am still playing tournaments and I try my best, try to win my matches."

The controversy stems from a match Davydenko played against Argentina's Martin Vassallo Arguello in an event in Sopot, Poland, last July.

So, it is clear that he is going though a tough time. Now, his fans are hoping that this controversy will not affect her game during the Australian Open 2008. If everything goes well, then Davydenko can easily reach the fourth round of the tournament. In the fourth round, his likely opponent could be his fellow Russian Mikhail Youzhny. Richard Gasquet or Andy Murray might be the quarter final opponent of Davydenko. So, I think, reaching the semi final is very possible for this Russian, but to make it to the final might require defeating the favorites like Andy Roddick or Rafael Nadal. However, Nikolay Davydenko has the ability to make it to the final of Australian Open 2008 and that would be something very special for him.