Davydenko to meet Nadal in final

Nikolay Davydenko produced one of the performances of his career so far as he outplayed home favourite Andy Roddick 7-6 6-2 to make it to his first Miami Masters final.

The Russian was congratulated by Roddick at the hand shake, who told him he was just “too good” on the night. Indeed it was a real eye opener for many tennis fans who have not really paid much notice to the Davydenko in the past.

As Roddick remarked, his style is similar to Andre Agassi in the way he stands inside the baseline and takes the ball very early, making his opponents do much of the running. It was his first victory over Roddick in six meetings, and he now meets Rafael Nadal who overcame Tomas Berdych 7-6 6-2.

Despite the tight nature of the first set, there was always the feeling that Berdych did not quite believe he could overcome Nadal on the biggest stage. Indeed it was the Czech’s nerve which let him down in the tie-break, as he double faulted to lose the set.

Nadal proceeded to steamroll over Berdych in the second set, confusing him with a mixture of high bouncing topspin shots and ankle high slice shots.

It makes for an interesting final, and although Davydenko has never beaten Nadal, I fancy the Russian to turn the tables on him. In the form he is in at the moment, he should be able to step inside the baseline often, and take Nadals high bouncing forehand early before it gets too high. If he can do that, I can see Davydenko winning his second Masters Series title.