Christopher Lee/Getty Images
Barclays ATP World Tour Final—London
Defending finalist Nikolay Davydenko captured his first win in 13 attempts against Roger Federer on Saturday, defeating the year-end No. 1 6-2, 4-6, 7-5.
Davydenko began his quest to derail the fierce competition of his Swiss opponent by converting on three of four break point opportunities in the first set to lead one set to love.
Federer, who had lost the first set in his three previous matches throughout the week, picked up his errant play from the opening set. Federer broke Davydenko in the ninth game of the second set after the Russian sailed a forehand error long.
Federer's loud chant of encouragement after capturing the second set was equaled by the supportive roar of the English crowd. The sold out 02 Arena began to sense a tight knit third set on the horizon.
Moving along in due course in the third set, Davydenko stung Federer for a break of serve in the 11th game via a backhand return winner.
Requiring four crucial points to capture the biggest win of his career, Davydenko saved a late break charge by Federer at 30-40 on the strength of an off-the-rise forehand winner.
With the match on his racket, Davydenko celebrated his first win over Federer with a reserved stoic gesture, remaining internally ecstatic when the Swiss netted a cross-court forehand.
The loss against Davydenko ended what had been an astounding year for the top ranked Swiss. Winning two of the four Grand Slams events, Federer was reserved and complimentary towards his opponent during the post-match presser.
“Sure, it's disappointing,” lamented Federer.
“But not to lose against him; just to lose in the semis," Federer continued. "I thought he played strong throughout, even though I don't think it was our best match we ever played against each other. He finally beat me today. I wish him all the best for the final.”
Federer will now begin his much needed offseason and will return to action on Dec. 31st in Abu Dhabi. The Swiss superstar will take on world No. 2 Rafael Nadal in a winner-take-all exhibition worth $250,000.
Davydenko will attempt to go one better than his finals loss a year ago to Novak Djokovic in Shanghai. He described his outlook on defeating a player who had defeated him on numerous occasions.
“I think all my family, everybody who supports me, was waiting for this moment when I can beat Federer, because I have beaten everyone in the Top 10 except Federer,” said Davydenko.
“I was thinking today I want to show the same confidence as yesterday because I won yesterday and I really felt good. I know now in confidence, if I beat everyone, then I can play very well.”
Davydenko will now aim for his fifth title of the year on Sunday when he battles reigning US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro. Del Potro came through a classic encounter with Robin Soderling, defeating the Swede, 6-7 (1), 6-3, 7-6 (3).
With the powerhouse pair splitting their two previous meetings, the much anticipated match between del Potro and Soderling was on deck.
After blasting their way through six respective holds of serve, a deciding tiebreak—which was owned by Soderling—saw the Swede win all but one point along his path to holding a one set lead.
Not to be outdone, del Potro stormed back in the second set, using his new found touch and emotional outbursts to convert on his second break point in the eighth game of the set.
After engaging in an anxious set point at 5-3, a mistimed forehand by Soderling evened the encounter at one set all.
Pumping his fist in a whirlwind state of excitement, del Potro was all but ready to fly into his first year-end final.
Captivating the crowd with one-handed backhand passes and sonic-level serves, both combatants managed to break serve on one occasion. The exciting game culminated a match-ending tiebreak to produce the ultimate victor.
Del Potro, who is slowly gaining the reputation of holding the most lethal forehand and backhand combination on Tour, began the tiebreak with a clean inside-out backhand winner.
Holding three match points at 6-3, del Potro produced his 13th ace of the contest to clinch the victory.
With the win, del Potro will now head to Sunday's clash with Davydenko in search of his fourth title of the season.
Soderling, who will end year ranked No. 8 in the world, was pleased with his progress throughout the week, which included wins over Djokovic and Nadal.
“I think it's pretty obvious losing 7-6 in the third [set] in the semi-finals here, it's pretty disappointing,” said Soderling.
“Maybe I could have played a little bit better in the important moments and taken advantage of my chances. I don't think I did anything wrong at the end of the match; he just played a little bit better than me.”
Del Potro, who is rapidly turning into tennis' next great champion, spoke of his desire to close out his Swedish opponent.
"It was a very, very tough match," said del Potro. "It was so close. We played unbelievable points. We served well. The difference was just a couple of points in the tie-break in the third set."
Del Potro and Davydenko have met on three occasions on the ATP World Tour, with the Russian leading 2-1 in the pair's career head-to-head meetings.
The lanky Argentine previewed tomorrow's final showdown, expressing concern towards the challenge that lies ahead.
"I will want to close a good year," said del Portro. "I will play against Nikolay. It will be tough. But if I play like today, maybe I will have chance to win."
"He's very fast and he plays well on this kind of surface. But if I play good, I think I will have chance to win. But I think it will be a good final to watch."
With the final regular season match waiting in the bounds, please check back on Sunday for a complete recap from the Barclays ATP World Tour finals in London.
We're going to send you the most entertaining Tennis articles, videos, and podcasts from around the web.
6 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete