Davydenko Ends Title Drought With Hamburg Title

© Bongarts/Getty ImagesNikolay Davydenko won his 15th ATP World Tour title.

Russian Nikolay Davydenko won his first ATP World Tour title in over a year with a comprehensive victory over Paul-Henri Mathieu in the final of the International German Open on Sunday. The No. 12-ranked Davydenko needed just 88 minutes to defeat the Frenchman 6-4, 6-2 and clinch the ATP World Tour 500 tennis tournament in Hamburg.

Victory for Davydenko will boost his chances of qualifying for the year-end Barclays ATP World Tour Finals as he received 500 South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking points, together with €228,000. Davydenko’s most recent ATP World Tour final appearance came in November 2008 at the season finale, formerly known as Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai, where he finished runner-up to Novak Djokovic.

The No. 39-ranked Mathieu, also contesting his first ATP World Tour final of the season, was awarded 300 South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking points and €104,000 in prize money.

The 28-year-old Davydenko captured his 15th ATP World Tour title and his first since triumphing on clay at Warsaw (d. Robredo) in June 2008. He now stands at a 15-5 mark in ATP World Tour finals after becoming the first Russian to lift the trophy in Hamburg. It is the Volgograd native’s second title on German soil, after previously winning at Munich (d. Verkerk) in 2004.

The Russian said it was his best week for some time: "When you win the tournament then you always say it’s the best week because before I did not win any tournaments. It was semi-finals, quarter-finals and once I got to the final and won the tournament. It’s a very good week for me."

No. 13 seed Mathieu, who came through a gripping three-set semi-final with qualifier Pablo Cuevas on Saturday, enjoyed the better start to the match as he established an early 3-1 lead. Davydenko hit back though to win the next five of six games and clinch the first set 6-4.

Davydenko, the No. 2 seed, broke serve twice more in the second set to dispel the challenge of Mathieu and seal his fourth win (4-3 record) over the Frenchman. Davydenko converted 78 per cent of his first serves and created 13 break point chances on Mathieu’s serve, five of which he converted.

"I think he played a great match today," praised Mathieu. "He was very solid. I think I would have needed a bit more energy to win today. I think I was less aggressive than yesterday. I left pretty much (all my) energy on the court yesterday and to beat a guy like Nikolay you have to be 100 per cent physically."

"I’m very happy because I’ve won 15 ATP World Tour titles," said Davydenko. "I was surprised at the beginning as Mathieu started playing very well. I started fighting to come back and for me it was very good play to win the first set 6-4. Then every point, every game was important and I won 6-2 (in the second set).”

After an interrupted start to his 2009 ATP World Tour season due to a left heel injury suffered in Chennai, Davydenko had failed to reach an ATP World Tour final with semi-final losses coming at Barcelona (l. to Nadal) and Estoril (l. to Blake).

All success for the right-hander this season has come on clay courts, having also reached the quarter-finals at Roland Garros (l. to Soderling), ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo (l. to Murray) and last week in Stuttgart (l. to Fognini). He improved to a 25-8 mark on the season.

The 27-year-old Mathieu was bidding to win his first ATP World Tour title since July 2007, when he triumphed in Gstaad (d. Seppi). The Strasbourg native slipped to a 4-4 mark in ATP World Tour finals after contesting his first title match since Metz (l. to Tursunov) in October 2008.

Prior to his run through to the final in Hamburg, Mathieu had won back-to-back matches just three times in 2009 – reaching the semi-finals in Brisbane (l. to Verdasco), the quarter-finals in Munich (l. to Youzhny) and the third round at Roland Garros (l. to Federer). He has compiled a 22-19 match record on the season.

"It’s been a great week for me," commented Mathieu. "Of course, when you are in a final you always want to win but it has been a great week for me."