Finals day at Estoril

Roger Federer has defeated Nikolay Davydenko 7-6 1-2 (Davydnko retired hurt).

The match looked to be producing the blockbuster finish to an exciting weeks tennis, but Davydenko was struck down untimely with a strain in his left leg at the end of the first set. The Russian tried to continue playing, and even managed to break Federer, but then decided that the pain was not worth the gain.

Whilst this is a relatively small title, it will mean a lot more to Federer, seeing as it his first of a troubled year so far. He did not play anywhere near his best tennis, but in truth never looked in any real danger of losing in Estoril.

In winning his 54th ATP title, Federer extended his record to 12-0 over his Russian counterpart, and should solidfy his slightly shaky grasp on the world No.1 spot.

In the doubles final, Brit Jamie Murray and Zimbabwean Kevin Ullyett went down fighting to top seedsWesley Moodie and Jeff Coetzee 6-2 4-6 10-8. The South African pair exploited Ullyett’s serve, breaking it twice in the first set to take it easily. However Murray and Ullyett fought back in the second, breaking Coetzee’s serve at 4-3 and forcing the match into a nailbiting champions tie break. But it was Coetzee’s quick reflexes which would seal the win, some excellent net play at 8-8 was truly gutsy.

It’s back to regular partner Max Mirnyi for Murray at the Monte Carlo Masters Series, where he will be hoping to add to his already impressive record this season.

Estoril Open Update

It is semi-final time here at the Estoril Open,after Roger Federer eased past local favourite Frederico Gil 6-4 6-1.

Portugese wild-card Gil has had an excellent week, but Federer was simply too good for the world No. 146, and apart from the two rain delays, it was a comfortable victory for the Swiss.

He now goes on to play German Denis Gremelmayr, who has reached his first ever ATP semi final with a hard fought victory over Jiri Vanek (6-2 3-6 6-2)

In the other half of the draw, second seed and world No.4 Nikolay Davydenko extended his winning streak to ten matches, with a gutsy win over Marc Gicquel of France. Davdydenko was runner up here in 2006, and was victorious in 2003, so he knows the courts well. Next up for him is another Frenchman, Florent Serra, who defeated Flavio Cippola easily 6-1 6-1.

In the doubles it is good news for Britain, as Jamie Murray made it through to the final with new partner Kevin Ullyett. The number two seeds recovered from a set down to defeat third seeds Frantisek Cermak and Jordan Kerr 3-6, 6-4, 10-6. Murray is up to a career best ranking of 34, and will be looking to improve on that when he and Ullyett face top seeds Jeff Coetzee and Wesley Moodie in the final.

Davydenko the Master in Miami

Nikolay Davydenko today became the first Russian in 24 years to win the Miami Masters, as he defeated Rafael Nadal 6-4 6-2 to clinch the title.

The scoreline makes it appear a routine victory, and in truth it was for the world no.4, who as I predicted stood way inside the baseline and dictated play to Nadal. It was an unrelenting assault from the Russian, and once he had broken to go 5-3 up in the first set, the result never looked in any real doubt.

Gone were the nerves that have plagued him over the past year, and he has rediscovered his second serve, which prevented Nadal from gaining the upper hand off the return. When a bit of tension did start to show, double faulting when serving for the match, Davydenko quickly dispelled it the very next point, with some devastating groundstrokes from both wings.

It is not a total disaster for Nadal however; he will look back at this week and take a lot of positives. His hardcourt game is almost there, it just needs some fine tweaking, and not to come up against opponents playing the best tennis of their lives.

For Davydenko, he will be hoping of course to take this excellent form into the clay court season, where he will find Nadal to be somewhat tougher man to beat than he was today.

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.

Roddick topples Federer to meet Davydenko in the semi finals

After an enthralling match, this years second semi-final is as follows: Andy Roddick vs. Nikolay Davydenko.

World No. 6 Roddick forced a set off of the Roger Federer for the first time since the 2006 Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai as he clinched the opening set tie-break with an ace down the line. Federer then levelled the match by converting on his third break point chance at 4-4 and holding serve to close out the second set.

But two errors by the Swiss in the eighth game of the third set set up triple break point for Roddick, and Federer returned a forehand into the net to give his opponent the crucial break. Roddick closed out the match in one hour and 55 minutes on his third match point with Federer unable to return his serve.

On the other hand Davydenko (beat Tipsarevic 6-2 6-1) had a comfortable route into the semi’s, and should be fresh for his next match. Davydenko looked in imperious form as he dismantled the 23 year old Tipsarevic, who only won 23% of his second serves, not an enviable stat by any means. He now meets Roddick who snapped an 11 match losing streak against Federer to beat the world number one 7-6 4-6 6-3.

It is the first time since 1988 that all four semi finalists are inside the worlds top ten, and my money is on Davydenko to be lifting the trophy above his head come Sunday evening.