Davydenko beats 5th-seeded Simon in Valencia

VALENCIA, Spain (AP) -Nikolay Davydenko beat fifth-seeded Gilles Simon 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 on Monday in the first round of the Valencia Open, denting the Frenchman's hopes of qualifying for the ATP World Tour Finals. Davydenko mostly controlled the match at the City of Arts and Sciences despite dropping the second set, but the 36th-ranked Russian rallied in the decisive set with a forehand winner for a break point and 2-1 lead. Davydenko saved a break point through a drop shot in the sixth game before breaking Simon for the fourth time in the match to secure a second victory in seven meetings against the 12th-ranked Simon. Simon trails eighth-ranked American Mardy Fish by 720 points with only the Paris Masters to play before the season-ending tour finals in London. Only the top eight qualify for the Nov. 20-27 tournament in London. Davydenko will next face French player Nicolas Mahut, who ousted Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 7-6 (5), 6-2. In Monday's late match, Vasek Pospisil of Canada needed more than two hours to beat John Isner of the United States 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (9). Isner bounced back from a shaky first set to hit nine of his 19 aces in the second, but Pospisil outlasted the hard-serving American in the third-set tiebreaker. Italian player Fabio Fognini also advanced to the second round with a 6-4, 6-3 win over wild card Daniel Gimeno-Traver. Defending champion David Ferrer is seeded No. 1 in Valencia, and begins his defense on Tuesday against fellow Spanish player Fernando Verdasco. French players Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils are also in first-round action at the Agora complex on Tuesday.