Davydenko happy to be underdog against Federer

 NIKOLAY Davydenko is fighting a losing battle at the Australian Open.

STAR ATTRACTION: Nikolay Davydenko books a place in the last eight with Roger Federer and believes he has the mental toughness to succeed (Getty Images)

Having booked a quarter-final clash with Roger Federer he can no longer avoid the limelight, but the Russian insists he is still the underdog in Melbourne.

Dayvdenko is the form player of the tour at present. Seeded sixth in Melbourne, he defeated both Federer and Rafael Nadal en route to lifting the Qatar Open crown earlier this month.

The Russian has been notably buoyed in confidence since victory at the ATP Tour World Finals at the O2 Arena last November and his arrival in Melbourne drew considerably more attention than in previous years.

A ferocious start to his Australian Open campaign seemed to back up the hype, but Davydenko was pushed all the way by 2009 semi-finalist Fernando Verdasco of Spain in the last 16.

A meeting with Federer will automatically set chins wagging however, with the Russian having won his previous two encounters with the world number one, ending a run of 12 consecutive defeats.

But Davydenko is in no doubt as to who will be favourite when the duo lock horns on Rod Laver Arena.

"I hope Federer will be favourite," said Davydenko. "For me he is always the favourite but on the court, in my mind, things change.

"He has already won the Australian Open a few times. He's the world number one whereas I'm number six. Why would I be the favourite if I'm not number one?

"But now I realise that I can have chances to win the first set, and then the second set and so on. That's what I did in the last two matches against him.

"I don't know what time our match will be. I liked playing him at night in Doha because it was cooler and slower but then I've now got used to playing in the day here.

"I don't know either when the best time to play against Federer is. I think I beat him before because I ran faster and I will have to do that again."

If Davydenko is to prove a worthy opponent for Federer he will certainly have to improve. He began brightly enough against Verdasco but let a two-set lead slip and was forced to grind out victory in five sets.

Federer, on the other hand, was at his sublime best and cruised his way past former world number one Lleyton Hewitt in five sets.

But Davydenko believes he has the mental toughness to continue his impressive form against Federer and break his grand slam duck in Melbourne.

"Today, I don't know what happened," he added. "It was disappointing and I thought to myself after the fourth set, what do I need to do now?

"But it's good fighting for me. Verdasco is strong physically, but not mentally.

"Hopefully now I will play on the centre court. I never said I don't like to play on the show courts.

"I don't want to play Court 20 or 22. It's too windy there. For sure I would like to play in show courts.

"Today's five-set match was good practice but I prefer to play in just three sets. But mentally I believe I am strong.

"I don't know if I can win here but I feel strong and that's important."