Davydenko wins; helps Federer gain semis

SHANGHAI—Fourth-ranked Nikolay Davydenko beat No. 7 Fernando Gonzalez 6-4, 6-3 Friday, handing defending champion Roger Federer a place in the Masters Cup semifinals.
Davydenko already had been eliminated from the year-ending tournament for the top eight men in the rankings by dropping his first two matches. While inconsistent again, the Russian knocked out Gonzalez, who had hoped to emerge from the Red Group if he won and the top-ranked Federer lost the final round-robin match against No. 5 Andy Roddick.
Roddick, 1-14 career against Federer, won his first two matches to guarantee he would advance. Second-ranked Rafael Nadal and No. 6 David Ferrer earlier qualified from the Gold Group. Davydenko’s victory gives him a little confidence after earlier losses. Now, he’s looking forward to a couple of days in the sun in the Maldives before starting preparations for Russia’s Davis Cup final against the United States.
“I try mentally to recover and to be a little bit brown,” Davydenko said. “And then it’s my happy face coming to Davis Cup final.”
Davydenko essentially won a battle of attrition against Gonzalez, who was at the top of his game in beating Federer and then showed his well-known inconsistency by losing his last two matches.
Davydenko was hit or miss throughout the match, with 33 winners offset by 35 unforced errors. Uncharacteristically, he frequently charged the net, where he either hit a deft volley or looked like a deer caught in the headlights with bad mistakes.
But Gonzalez was even more uneven, and even his stinging forehand let him down. He smacked a clean winner around the net post for one of only seven forehand winners to 17 unforced errors.
The Chilean’s frustration boiled over when he netted a forehand on break point while serving at 4-5 to concede the first set to Davydenko. His received a code violation after smashing his racket on the court, then bashing the net post as he walked back to his chair. “I was a little bit disappointed with myself after losing that set,” Gonzalez said. “I give everything that I have. I was running a lot. I was playing good tennis, but it wasn’t feeling like I want.”
Davydenko got the final break he needed on his 15th break point of the match as Gonzalez served at 3-4. The Russian then held serve, hitting a clean volley winner on match point.—Agencies