Intro:

Top seed John Isner was beaten in straight sets by Nikolay Davydenko in the quarter-finals of the Open de Nice Cote d'Azur on Thursday (May 24).

Script:

Not the sort of conditions you might expect in Nice in late May...

And not the result you'd expect when top seed John Isner met Nikolay Davydenko in the quarter-finals of the Open de Nice.

The big American dropped his second service game - and lost the opening set 6-4.

Davydenko showing just why he was once ranked third in the world.

Isner could never break the Russian's serve and he eventually went down 4-6, 6-7 (4).

Second seed Gilles Simon fared much better earlier in the day.

Simon, who grew up in Nice, did not face a single break point in a comfortable 7-5, 6-0 win against Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci.

He will play Nicolas Almagro for a place in Saturday's final, after the Spaniard beat Belgium's Steve Darcis 6-4, 6-4.