Nikolay Davydenko

Davydenko Stuns Nadal to Win Miami

April 7, 2008

It’s not too often that a player who faces a match point in the opening round of a Masters Series event will go on to capture the title, but that is exactly what Russian Nikolay Davydenko did at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Florida.

Playing his first match of the tournament against Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis, No. 4 Davydenko was up against a match point in the second set tiebreak when he turned the tables, gained some confidence and won the match. He then went on to win two more tight three-setters against Simone Bolelli and Mario Ancic to reach the quarter-finals where he finally produced a dominant performance against Serbian Janko Tipsarevic.

Having played way more tennis against much lesser opponents, Davydenko was not only a surprise semifinalist but also a massive underdog entering his contest against Andy Roddick. Roddick was riding high after finally defeating Roger Federer in the quarters and was carrying in an unblemished record against the Russian. However, before he knew it, the seemingly invincible Roddick was down a set and a break to the speedy Davydenko and eventually bowed out of the competition handing Davydenko a 7-6(5), 6-2 victory.

Davydenko was then faced with the challenge of facing another player who he had never defeated in Spaniard Rafael Nadal. Nadal was in top form having already eliminated No. 16 Paul-Henri Mathieu, No. 9 James Blake and No. 10 Tomas Berdych with no trouble. Nadal, the No. 2 player in the world, was the heavy favourite to win his first title of the year, but Davydenko was just too good. He served at 78% compared to Nadal’s 57% which translated to four service breaks and a 6-4, 6-2 championship victory.

This marks only the second Masters Shield that Davydenko has lifted with his first coming at Paris in 2006. It also makes him the first Russian to win the singles trophy in the 24-year history of the Sony Ericsson Open. Davydenko can now focus on winning more and has the mindset to do so.

"Maybe I feel more confident because I beat very good guys here, and now in the future I start coming and I play maybe different, maybe much better and much faster,” he said. “For me it's good I won here, and we'll see how good I can prepare for the clay court season."

Nadal is definitely one guy who cannot wait for the clay court season to begin as that is his domain and historically where he has had his best results.

“I was playing very, very good tennis. I have to be happy about myself, about the last weeks, because I improved a lot my level and I was there all the time,” said Nadal. “I think soon I am going to win a title. I hope so in Monte Carlo.”

In doubles, top-seeds Mike and Bob Bryan captured their first title of the year by beating the No. 4 seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles 6-2, 6-2 in the final. The Bryan brothers were very happy with their tournament and can now carry some confidence into their Davis Cup clash with France next weekend.

“I think we got better every match. Today was one of the best matches we played in a long time,” said Mike Bryan. “We were doing everything well. We came out just going for it. It feels really good.”