FERRER WINS

Kafelnikov’s countryman, Nikolay Davydenko, has defeated David Ferrer of Spain in the semi final of the Qatar Open. Davydenko won the match in the straight sets by 6-2, 6-3.

Ferrer was given the top seed in this event and he was expected to reach the finals, but, he was stunned by the fantastic all round performance of Davydenko. Ferrer looked out of nick right from the start and he managed to hit only two winners in the entire match. In addition to that, he also made 15 unforced errors.

The first couple of games of the opening set went with the serve and the scores were levelled at 1-1. Davydenko got a breakthrough in the third game and he made his lead more profound by holding his service in the next game. At the end of the fourth game, Davydenko was ahead by 3-1. The next two games went with the serve. Davydenko got another breakthrough in the seventh game and then, grabbed the first set by serving out the eighth game.

In the second set, both the players held their service in the first seven games and Davydenko was ahead by 4-3 at the end of the seventh game. The Russian veteran got a breakthrough in the eighth game and then, wrapped up the contest with an easy serve hold in the next game.

In the post match interview, Ferrer said, “It was Davydenko’s day and he played superbly. It was a flawless performance by him. He was at his peak today. He served wonderfully and played the return shots equally well. He was certainly better than me today and he deserved the victory.”

In the final match, Davydenko will take on Richard Gasquet of France who made his way into the final by defeating Daniel Brands of Germany.