Davydenko Boosts Finals Contention With Shanghai Title

© Getty ImagesNikolay Davydenko won his third ATP World Tour Masters 1000 trophy.

Nikolay Davydenko will take some stopping in his bid to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals after dismissing World No. 2 Rafael Nadal 7-6(3), 6-3 Sunday to capture the Shanghai ATP Masters 1000 Presented by Rolex.

As victor of the penultimate ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament of the year, Davydenko earned 1000 South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking points, moving him up one place to No. 7 in the battle for London – 420 points clear of his closest rival Fernando Verdasco.

The Russian is looking to clinch one of the three remaining spots at the circuit finale, to be held this season at The O2 in London from 22-29 November. He has qualified for the prestigious eight-man event the past four years and reached the final last year in Shanghai, finishing runner-up to Novak Djokovic.

Watch Final Highlights 

Watch Davydenko Post-Match Interview

"On the final day, last match, you want to give everything in this match, 100 per cent what you can do," said Davydenko. "And really I lost 5 finals and I won 17. That was my 18th ATP World Tour title. Now it's really amazing. Really, in finals I play very well."

Nadal added: "I don't like to lose, but I had my chances. He beat me. He played [a] very good match. Just congratulate him, because he deserved the victory. He did very well, and with this victory probably he's closer to being in London."

The 28-year-old Davydenko captured his third ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title and did so in fine style, with back-to-back victories over World No. 4 Djokovic and reigning ATP World Tour Champion Nadal. It is the second time Davydenko has defeated Nadal in an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final, having mastered the Spaniard in the 2008 Sony Ericsson Open championship match. He won his first of the coveted trophies at the 2006 BNP Paribas Masters (d. Hrbaty).

Victory in Shanghai brings to a close an extremely successful Asian swing for Davydenko. He captured his third ATP World Tour title of the season at the Proton Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur 2009 with victory over Verdasco before posting a quarter-final effort (l. to Cilic) at last week’s China Open in Beijing.

Davydenko improved to an 18-5 lifetime mark in ATP World Tour finals and has won at least four titles in a season for the second time in his career, first doing so in 2006 when he lifted five trophies. Together with Roger Federer, he trails only Nadal and Andy Murray (five titles each) on the 2009 tour-level title leaders list. His other titles this season both came on clay, at the International German Open (d. Mathieu) and the ATP Studena Croatia Open (d. Ferrero).

The Russian had fought past Djokovic in a third-set tie-break after three hours and two minutes Saturday, but showed no signs of fatigue as he made a fast start to his seventh meeting with Nadal, breaking the top seed’s serve in the third game to lead 2-1. Davydenko had Nadal under more pressure as he opened up a 15/40 lead on the Mallorcan’s serve at 2-4, but could not close out the double break and was made to rue his missed chances as Nadal immediately hit back to break serve and level at 4-4.

Despite costly errors mid-set that saw Nadal wrest the momentum from Davydenko’s grasp, the Russian continued with his aggressive play and was rewarded as he saved a set point in the 10th game before forcing a tie-break. In the decider, the Russian raced to a 5-2 lead and took advantage of a forehand error from Nadal to earn three set points at 6-3. He then closed out the one-set lead with a finely-struck backhand up the line.

"I think a little bit was lucky, but mostly I was playing very well today," said Davydenko. "[At] four all in [the] first set I was feeling like I [was] losing my chance to win [the] first set because he came back. I started to make more mistakes and felt tired already. Like yesterday and today I played very well in [the] tie-break, winning, and then I felt I had [a] chance, fighting [in the] second set."

Nadal looked to make an early break through in the second set, but was denied on the break point chance he created in the fifth game and would not get another opportunity in the match. More aggressive play from Davydenko paid dividends as he broke an increasingly frustrated Nadal in the following game to lead 4-2. The Russian then kept his composure and maintained his high level as he served for the match, benefitting from a forehand error by Nadal to seal victory after two hours and three minutes.

“If I have chance to win [the] second set, I try to make it happen, and [I] was feeling like after I broke him ‘yes, I can win today’," said Davydenko. "[It] was 6-3 in the second, it's not so easy because I [could] see he was starting [to] try [to] come back."

The 23-year-old Nadal was looking to win an ATP World Tour-best sixth tour-level title of the season, and his first since May when he triumphed at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia (d. Djokovic). He has compiled a 61-10 mark on the year, despite being hampered by knee and abdominal injuries since June.

“[It was] the first match after my injury comeback against one top player. I was competing all the time at very good level, trying to find solutions all the time, and I did well, but he did a little bit better than me," assessed Nadal. "I really felt I really had chances to win. So that's the first time, and that's the most positive thing for me. I fought all the time with [a] positive attitude, no physical problems. So that's very good news for me.
 
“[It has been a] very good Asian tour for me. Semi-finals in Beijing (l. to Cilic), final here. [I’m] just happy for everything. I would like to win here, but the tournament is very positive, and I [am] going to continue working like this to try to continue in this way. I am playing much better, am moving much better on court, and it's still working like this.”

The left-hander, who has already secured his place at the season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, dropped to a 36-11 mark in tour-level finals. In the first five months of the season he claimed three ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles and won his sixth Grand Slam championship at the Australian Open (d. Federer), while also triumphing at the Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell (d. Ferrer) for the fifth year in a row.