Richard defeated Nikolaj Davydenko 7-6 6-4 6-4 and will play Tommy Robredo in the third round.
Richard started with an ace, went up 40-0 and was broken. He immediately responded, but two furter breaks allowed the Russian to serve for the set at 5*-2. Richard, however, did not give up, compensated both breaks and took the match into a tiebreak in which he prevailed. In the follwing sets one break per set was enough for a final 7-6 6-4 6-4 victory in the gruelling heat of Melbourne.
Richard seems to recover from his Doha injury, while he still might miss good rhythm, his backhand is starting to click again as well as his serve speed is slowly mounting.
