Davydenko hopes recent form tells against Federer

Melbourne: Confident and in form, Nikolay Davydenko can draw some small comfort from facing off against Roger Federer in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.

The world number one may intimidate most of his opponents before they even get on the court but not Davydenko. Indeed, the Russian believes he may have an edge over the Swiss ahead of Wednesday`s centre court clash at Melbourne Park. On paper, the odds are stacked in Federer`s favour as he has more grand slam titles than any other man, while Davydenko has never even reached a grand slam final and lost 12 of his 14 previous matches with the Swiss master. But... and it`s big but, Davydenko has beaten Federer in their two most recent matches: the semi-finals of last year`s ATP World Tour Finals then at the same stage of the tournament in Doha earlier this month.The Russian cheekily suggested last week that Federer may even be scared of him but he was more diplomatic when asked if those last two wins alone were enough to make him the favourite. "He`s already won the Australian Open a few times. He`s number one, I`m number six. Why do I need to be favourite?" said Davydenko, who won his first three matches in straight sets before beating Fernando Verdasco in five.Federer has also been in great touch this week. He lost the opening set of his first match with Igor Andreev but has not dropped another one since. Bureau Report