It was just seven months ago that Nikolay Davydenko was forced to declare, "I am not Paris Hilton."
The Russian had just won the ATP World Tour Finals and the ATP tour event in Doha, defeating Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal on the way both times. At the Australian Open, he was being touted as a potential Grand Slam threat for the first time in his career.
Though he insisted he didn't want fame, Davydenko blossomed under the spotlight, displaying a previously well-hidden sense of humor with quips like, "Then nobody [was] scared [of me]. Now it's everyone scared," and "I don't drink so much because, you see—I'm skinny."
"It's interesting. We're not talking about tennis," he told reporters in Melbourne. "We're talking about my life. This is my first experience like this in the press."
It made a nice change from his previous brush with notoriety, which came when he was at the center of a match-fixing scare in the summer of 2007.
Davydenko's run of good results also left him feeling good about his game. "It's interesting feeling. Now I feel like I can beat everyone," he said then. "I start to go to the net. I start to make some points volley, make so many winners volley. Maybe a little bit better serve sometimes."
Once conspicuous for his lack of endorsements, Davydenko even had racquet companies fighting over him. In March, Prince and Dunlop issued dueling press releases claiming he was endorsing their brand.
Right at that time, however, he also discovered that a pain in his right wrist was the due to a fracture in the joint. The injury ended up sidelining him for three months. For a player famous for playing just about every week he could, going for so long without competing was unfathomable.
In an interview with TENNIS.com earlier this month, Davydenko described the period as "enjoy, and [then] frustrated."
"Enjoy—I don't play, take rest," he said in his distinctive brand of English. "[But] then also I know will be tough comeback. That's how I feel now—tough."
Since returning in June, Davydenko has played eight events but failed to win consecutive matches until the Cincinnati Masters two weeks ago, when he battled through two three-setters before falling to Roger Federer in the quarterfinals.
"For me, if I take off, I need to come back from zero again," he said. "Mentally, is very difficult, because if I'm practicing good and then coming to the match and playing different tennis, I have mentally [a] problem."
He was a reluctant interviewee, talking in clipped tones—very different from the wisecracking dark horse entertaining the press earlier this year. Just like winning had become a habit at the beginning of the year, losing now feels like a vicious cycle.
"In beginning [of] year, is very good confidence because winning tournaments, you still have good confidence," he said. "But losing tournaments second match or first match, your feeling mentally, [the] psychology, is low. If I need to come back, I need [to be] winning more matches."
While Davydenko was sidelined, his brother and coach Eduard began to turn more of his attention to his son, aspiring pro Philip. Now he will no longer be travelling full time on the tour with Davydenko. Along with some informal help from his non-playing wife, Irina, Davyenko has also been using Scottish National Academy coach Marcel du Coudray as a hitting partner and coach.
Eduardo is back for the U.S. Open, however, with Davydenko trying to navigate a tough section of the draw that includes Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick, Mardy Fish and Marcos Baghdatis.
He believes his form will return, but wonders how long it will take.
Just waiting, just practicing, coming to the tournaments. Try to find my game and wait what can happen," he said. "For sure it's coming back, but I don't know when."