MELBOURNE, Australia(AP) Now that he's shown he can beat Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, people are suddenly asking questions about Nikolay Davydenko.
More about the man than the player. And he likes it.
The 28-year-old Russian has played professionally for a decade but he entered the big time late last year by beating Federer and Nadal on his way to the ATP World Tour Final title in London. Then he did it again, in Doha earlier this month en route to the Qatar Open title.
Now, he's into the third round at the Australian Open, where he's seeded No. 6, and media from around the world want to know: Does he drink vodka? Does he have kids? Does he want kids? Does he want to write a book about his life story?
Some responses: Yes, he occasionally imbibes - if he's going out clubbing he mixes vodka and Red Bull for an extra jolt. Otherwise, ``If I drink only vodka, I go straight to sleep.'' As for the book, there's no publisher lined up just yet.
Davydenko grinned when reality dawned on him.
It's interesting. We're not talking about tennis,'' Davydenko told a news conference following his 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 win over Ukraine qualifier Illya Marchenko.We're talking about my life. This is my first experience like this with the press.''
Davydenko turned pro in 1999. He's never made a Grand Slam final - or moved beyond the quarters at Melbourne in eight previous appearances - but lately he's on a roll.
He dominated his match Wednesday and extended a current winning streak to 11 matches, including his title runs at the 2009 World Tour Finals and the 2010 season-opener at Doha.
Davydenko now has 20 career titles and hopes, one day, to tell his children that he won lots of tournaments, he said.
He and his wife, Irina, who have been married since November 2006, do not have children yet. He's got mixed feelings about whether now is the right time to start a family.
Yes. No. Yes and no,'' he replied to a question.I would really like to have kids now.''
He noted that Federer and Australian player Lleyton Hewitt - who're also both 28 - already each have two children. The main holdout, Davydenko said, is his wife, who travels with him on the tour and is concerned that having children will distract her husband from his tennis.
She wonders if Davydenko will want to travel less and spend more time at home and get lazy about practicing, he said.
Now I'm top 10. She's scared,'' he said.Maybe for me it's better to be with my wife at this time, no kids.''
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THE ENGLISH TEEN: Laura Robson is more familiar with the refined atmosphere at Wimbledon, which is why the self-described elegant'' Englishwoman found her first trip to Melbourne Park sointeresting.''
Tennis fans aren't exactly inhibited in Australia, where they burst into chants in between points and hold giant cardboard cutouts.
The up-and-coming British player turned 16 on Thursday and celebrated with a first-round win in the doubles tournament, where she and Australia's Sally Peers won wild cards into the doubles draw. They beat Americans Jill Craybas and Abigail Spears, 6-3, 7-5, cheered on by an ecstatic crowd.
``At Wimbledon the crowd is kind of more reserved,'' said Robson, the 2008 junior Wimbledon champion. She got a wild card to play in the main draw at last year's Wimbledon, where she exited in the first round - but at age 15 became the youngest player in the main draw since Martina Hingis in 1995.
At Wimbledon, they get into it, but they're not like chanting. They don't make up songs for every changeover. They don't really come with cardboard foam cutouts,'' she said, laughing.Today was pretty interesting.''
Robson lost in the second round of the singles qualifying tournament at Melbourne. A week earlier, she reached the finals at the Hopman Cup where she partnered Andy Murray, the No. 5-seeded Scot whom she described as ``really lovely.''
``We get on quite well. Even though we're usually mean to each other the whole time,'' Robson said about Murray, the 2008 U.S. Open runner-up.
Murray was to be among the friends and family at a birthday bash Thursday night.
``It's like a dinner. It's not a party. It's very elegant, you know, it's just how I roll,'' she said.
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UP PAST BEDTIME: Australian hopeful Bernard Tomic says it's not right for 17-year-olds like himself to play late-night matches.
Tomic lost a grueling five-setter to Croatia's Marin Cilic 6-7 (6), 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 that started at 10:20 p.m. and lasted almost four hours and ended shortly after 2 a.m. on Thursday.
I think it's ridiculous,'' he said after losing the second-round match.After 1 a.m., 2 a.m., for a 17-year-old to go out and play. It's difficult.''
Name me any sport you play at 1 or 2 in the morning, except this,'' he added.I think if I'd have played during the day, which I requested, it could have been all changed. I think I should have won.''
Fellow Australian Lleyton Hewitt knows something about late-night matches, too.
Former No. 1-ranked Hewitt's match against against Marcos Baghdatis at the 2008 Australian Open started at 11:47 p.m. - the latest start for a singles match in the tournament's history - and ended at 4:34 a.m.
Hewitt, the No. 22-seed this year, had an altogether more civil time slot Thursday, when he beat 20-year-old American Donald Young 7-6 (3), 6-4, 6-1 and ended the match before sunset, to set up a rematch Saturday against 2006 runner-up Baghdatis.