Troubled Nikolay Davydenko, his serve gone missing, hopes to limp into next weekend's start of the season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai despite carrying an elbow injury which refuses to heal.
The fourth seed and defending champion complained of muscle fatigue due to his injury and his inability to serve after crashing out 6-2, 6-2 to Marcos Baghdatis on Thursday at the Paris Masters. Britain's Andy Murray meanwhile took a step closer to qualifying for the season ending event in China after beating Frenchman Fabrice Santoro 6-4, 6-2.
Davydenko, under a corruption cloud after a suspicious match pullout in July and fined for not trying hard enough last month indoors in Europe, has an even bigger problem on his mind - his missing delivery. The Russian double-fauled an amazing ten times and lost his serve five times as he fought to avoid a third round exit from the Bercy arena.