Shanghai - Russian Nikolay Davydenko will face Novak
Djokovic for the second time this week as the pair meet in the Sunday
title showdown at the Masters Cup.
Serbia's Djokovic beat the Russian on Tuesday in group play at the
year-end spectacular and earned his second chance through a 7-5, 6-2
defeat Saturday of Andy Murray, conqueror of Roger Federer a day
earlier.
Djokovic survived 55 unforced errors and missed 11 break points as
he defeated Frenchman Gilles Simon 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.
The trophy match will be the first at the season wrapup event
without Federer.
But Murray's three-hour effort in upsetting the Swiss evidently
took a physical and emotional toll, with the Scott appearing to
sleepwalk through much of his one-hour, 39-minute loss to Davydenko.
Murray is just the third player to defeat Federer at least three
times in a season, joining Rafael Nadal (four in 2006 and 2008) and
David Nalbandian (2003).
The persistent baseline game of the unheralded and low-profile
Davydenko was enough to see the Scot off with just seven winners
compared to 32 for the Russian.
Murray finished 2008 with a 58-16 record, one more loss than
Federer.
Djokovic took treatment in the third set for a left calf muscle
pull as he denied the dream of year-end debutant Simon, who claimed
the last of the spots in the eight-man field when Rafael Nadal
withdrew.
'It's the Masters Cup, best eight players in the world this year
are here, it's a huge success for me to reach the final,' said the
Serb.
'My injury is nothing too serious. It was just cramping because of
a lot of running and a lot of rallies we had. So I just had to treat
it a little bit in order to end up the match.'
France's Simon brought a 1-0 head-to-head over Djokovic onto the
court after defeating him in the Marseille second round in February.
But the rookie was unable to impose his game on the Australian
Open holder after winning the first set in the contest which lasted a
shade under three hours.
'When you play three hours like this, you have so many
opportunities to win. That's why it's very hard to lose.'
Djokovic has capped a remarkable turnaround from a year ago in
Shanghai when he lost all three of his group matches to return a
broken man to Europe.
At this edition, he retains a chance to lift his first title since
winning Rome over Swiss Stan Wawrinka in May.
'To be in the final is something special. Every player has a
motive more to do well and to win the title.'
USA
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