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MIAMI: Russian fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko defeated
Spanish second seed Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-2 Sunday in the final of the
$3.77-million Miami ATP Masters Series Sony Ericsson Open hardcourt
event.
Davydenko won $590,000 and his
12th career ATP title, his first since capturing the crown at Moscow
last October and what he dubbed the biggest title of his career.
Davydenko’s best Miami result
in six prior appearances was reaching the fourth round two years
ago.
“For me it’s surprising
standing here [as the winner]. I never play good in Miami,”
Davydenko said. “For me to beat Nadal in the final, first time in
my career. I think it’s crazy.”
Reigning French Open champion
Nadal, ranked second in the world for a record 140 weeks in a row
since July of 2005, had won both prior meetings with Davydenko but
struggled from the start Sunday.
Davydenko became the first
Russian to win the Miami crown by dispatching two foes in a row he
had never beaten. He ousted Andy Roddick in the semifinals despite
having lost all five prior matches with the sixth-seeded American.
“Beating those two guys in two
sets was amazing to me,” Davydenko said.
“Maybe something in my tennis
will change from Miami in the future. Maybe I feel more confident
because I beat very good guys here and now in the future maybe
something different, maybe much faster, maybe much better.”
Davydenko broke Nadal early but
the Spaniard broke back at love when the Russian netted a forehand
to level the first set at 2-2. Nadal held but Davydenko won six of
the next seven games to seize command of the match.
Nadal was broken in the seventh
game by Davydenko, who held twice more to claim the opening set,
then broke the Spaniard again to begin the second set when Nadal
sent a forehand wide.
Nadal surrendered another break
in the fifth game of the second set when Davydenko blasted a winner
past him for a 4-1 lead. Davydenko held at love for a 5-1 edge and,
after Nadal held serve, closed out the match on his second
championship point opportunity with a forehand winner after 82
minutes.
Davydenko, who was down a match
point earlier in the tournament, stunned even himself by using the
same racket throughout the week.
“I want to keep forever this
racket,” he said.
Nadal had been an ATP-best 21-5
in reaching the final before Davydenko denied him a 24th career
title and what would have been his first ATP crown since Stuttgart
in July.
“He played at a very good
level. I didn’t play a good match. That’s it,” Nadal said.
“When you don’t play at 100 percent against top players, it’s
tough to win. I didn’t feel my rhythm on the court so I played a
bad game today.”
Nadal, 21, was foiled in his bid
to be the first Spaniard to take the Miami title, having also
finished runner-up in 2005 when he lost to world number one Roger
Federer, who was ousted by Roddick in a quarter-final this week.
Davydenko, 26, spent much of last
year dealing with an ATP match-fixing probe that remains unresolved.
--AFP
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