Fourth-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko
defeated seventh-seeded Argentine Juan Martin del Potro in straight sets on
Thursday to reach the semifinals at the $4.45 million Tennis Masters Cup.
Davydenko prevailed in 87 minutes in easy 6-3, 6-2 fashion against the 6-
foot-5 del Potro, who made his Masters Cup debut this week. Davydenko went
2-1 in this week's Gold Group round-robin action and will now play in
Saturday's semifinals, while del Potro settled for a 1-2 mark and is done for
the week.
The gritty Russian jumped out to 4-1 leads in both sets and was never
challenged on Day 5. Davydenko broke del Potro no less than four times, while
allowing only one break against, and the big-hitting Argentine failed to
record even one ace in defeat, compared to five for the winning Russian.
"I feel great," Davydenko said. "Today was my last chance [to get] to the
semifinals. Against [Andy] Murray I have more of a chance...and against
Federer, I don't know. Federer is every day [a] different guy."
Davydenko is now 2-1 lifetime against del Potro, including a 1-1 mark this
year. The Argentine beat the Russian in a Davis Cup semifinal tie back in
September.
The 20-year-old del Potro will represent Argentina in next week's Davis Cup
final against visiting Spain in Mar del Plata. His fine ATP season featured
four straight tournament titles at one point just before the U.S. Open.
In another Gold Group match on Day 5, sixth-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried
Tsonga picked up his only win of the week by overcoming second-seeded Serbian
star Novak Djokovic 1-6, 7-5, 6-1 in 1 hour, 38 minutes on the indoor
hardcourt at Qi Zhong Stadium. Tsonga popped seven aces and broke Djokovic on
three occasions.
The bout marked a rematch of January's Australian Open final, which was won by
Djokovic. Tsonga, however, wound up winning three of their four encounters for
the year, including three straight and a victory at the Paris Masters just two
weeks ago.
The 23-year-old Tsonga, like del Potro, was also making his Masters Cup debut
this week. He went 1-2 in the Gold Group, while the group-winner Djokovic was
2-1 and had already booked a spot in Saturday's semis. The Serb was 0-3 in
last year's round-robin portion.
The ever-improving Tsonga went 8-5 against Top-10 competition this season.
Red Group round-robin play will wrap up here on Friday when top-seeded Swiss
Roger Federer (1-1) meets third-seeded Brit Andy Murray (2-0) and eighth-
seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon (1-1) battles Czech alternate Radek Stepanek
(0-1), who joined the field on Wednesday when fifth-seeded American star Andy
Roddick (0-1) pulled out due to an ankle injury. Federer and Simon are still
trying to secure a semifinal berth, while Murray has already qualified for the
final four. Stepanek will not play here beyond Friday.
Murray, Simon and Stepanek, like Tsonga and del Potro, are Masters Cup
rookies.
The 13-time major champion Federer, who has won the last five U.S. Opens, is a
four-time overall and two-time defending Masters Cup champion. The Wimbledon
and French Open runner-up beat Spaniard David Ferrer in last year's finale
here in Shanghai and is the only former Masters Cup champion in this year's
field.
Federer and Murray will meet in a rematch of the U.S. Open final, which was
won by the super Swiss. Murray, however, is 3-2 lifetime against Federer,
including a 2-1 record this season.
If Federer wins on Friday he'll move into the semis, while a loss would send
him home and propel Simon into the final four.
"I'm looking forward to the match," Federer said, politely. "Should be
interesting. He's a wonderful player. He's had a great end to the season. He's
definitely the guy probably most in form."
The red-hot 21-year-old Murray has won 16 of his last 17 matches overall,
including titles in St. Petersburg and Madrid. He's only been beaten four
times since Wimbledon.
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