Davydenko downs Del Potro to win world finals crown

Robin Millard

Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko won the ATP World Tour Finals title Sunday with a straight sets victory over Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro at London’s O2 Arena.

Last year’s beaten finalist won 6-3, 6-4 in an hour and 24 minutes to claim the season-ending title, disputed among the year’s top eight players.

The win meant Davydenko jumped up the rankings to finish the season as the world number six, while Del Potro remains at number five.

The 28-year-old Russian scooped 1,510,000 dollars in prize money, while the Argentinian collected 740,000 dollars.

Davydenko’s route to the crown saw him beat Australian Open champion Rafael Nadal, French Open and Wimbledon title-holder Roger Federer and US Open winner Del Potro.

Davydenko, the first Russian to win the season-ending tournament, said he was thrilled to have his name on the trophy.

“I was looking, till 2008, so many names there, like Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, everyone, Pete Sampras. In 2009, the name Davydenko will stay forever on this trophy. I think it’s amazing,” he said.

“I know the history of the Masters Cup. That my name is there is something amazing for me.”

He added: “I was surprised it was 6-3, 6-4. Before I was playing three-set matches, pretty tough, mostly two hours.

“I was coming in from the first point with 100 percent concentration.

“I won my first serve, I started to get really good concentration, to be positive, everything was feeling good.”

He said some of the prize money would be spent in the Maldives but his target was finally owning a flat in Moscow.

Del Potro, 21, said Davydenko had played the final with the speed of a computer game character.

“This tournament has a great champion in Nikolay. He worked hard to beat every player here this week. He played much better than me, and that’s it,” he said.

“He played unbelievable tennis. He beat me in good way. “He’s very strong. I’ve never beaten him on a hard court or indoors. He’s very fast. He plays like on a PlayStation, he runs everywhere. It’s very difficult to make winners.

“I did a good tournament anyway,” he added.

Both finalists finished second in their groups. In Saturday’s semi-finals, Davydenko beat Swiss world number one Federer, while Del Potro defeated Sweden’s Robin Soderling.

The Russian entered the match with a 2-1 overall lead on Del Potro.

The match was dominated by gutsy baseline rallies, with Davydenko making greater inroads on the Argentinian’s serve and mixing up the play with drop shots.

Davydenko had a break point in the fourth when Del Potro was called for a foot fault, and won the game, leaving the Argentinian glaring at the baseline judge.

Del Potro had break point in the seventh game but Davydenko forced a deuce and converted his advantage at the second time of asking.

The Argentinian served to stay in the set at 5-2 down and though Davydenko took him to deuce, Del Potro hung on.

However, the Russian held three set points in the next game and won it when Del Potro fired long.

In the second set, Del Potro turned up the aggression and gave Davydenko a tougher fight, though it was ultimately not enough.

AFP