Davydenko through to Masters Cup semi-finals
Thursday, 13 Nov 2008 14:05
Nikolay Davydenko seals place in Masters Cup semi-finals
Russia's Nikolay Davydenko has sealed his place in the semi-finals of the season-ending Masters Cup after a straight-sets win over Juan Martin del Potro.
The match was the final round-robin group stage encounter for both players, with a win for either player guaranteeing them a spot in the last four alongside group winner Novak Djokovic.
It was Davydenko who started the stronger, sealing a break of serve in the fourth game to open up a 4-1 lead.
Del Potro earned a break of his own to peg back the Russian to 4-3, but no sooner had he got the match back with serve than Davydenko took the next two games in a row to seal the first set.
That missed opportunity seemed to lead to the Argentinean's play becoming increasingly ragged as frustration began creeping in early in the second set.
And Davydenko soon had his opponent on the back foot again, breaking for a 3-1 lead.
Soon after, 3-1 became 5-1 as the Russian's dominance shone through and despite a brave hold from Del Porto in the seventh game of the set, Davydenko served out to take the match a place in the last four, 6-3 6-2.
Earlier, in the first match of the day in the gold section of the round-robin stage, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga finally picked up a win at the tournament by handing a first defeat to the already-qualified Djokovic.
The Frenchman came back from losing the first set to win 1-6 7-5 6-1, earning himself $100,000 in prize money but ultimately finishing bottom of the group.