Youzhny ousts Davydenko

Reuters - Sat, 07 Nov 20:26:00 2009

Second seed Nikolay Davydenko squandered a one-set lead to lose 3-6 6-4 6-3 to unseeded Russian compatriot Mikhail Youzhny in the semi-finals of the Valencia Open.

Mikhail Youzhny of Russia reacts after winning the Kremlin Cup final match against Janko Tipsarevic, REUTERS - 0

World number seven Davydenko remains in a strong position to claim one of two remaining places at the World Tour Finals later this month but could have clinched his birth in London by winning the indoor hard court title in Valencia.

He looked on course for a fourth victory in five meetings with Youzhny when he won the first set but the Muscovite fought back to take the second and opened a 4-0 lead in the third as Davydenko's game fell apart.

Youzhny sealed victory when his opponent netted an easy forehand and will play top seed Andy Murray in Sunday's final.

"It was a good game, very tough, but I was a little bit lucky," Youzhny said.

Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Juan Martin del Potro and Andy Roddick have all qualified for the November 22-29 season-ending Tour Finals and Davydenko holds seventh spot and Verdasco eighth.

Reuters

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  1. youzhny is playing very well of late... he has got a­ very good backhand if memory serves me well... i do­ hope he will continue to do well...

    From Lee, on Sun 8 Nov 3:41AM

  2. Youzhny hung in very well. Very talented player and­ very tactically aware in today's match. Mixed it up­ very well, but as the article suggests, Davydenko­ didn't take full advantage of his superiority in­ the first set and a bit. He should still make it to­ London. Good news, because the tournament would be­ poorer without him. Caught the third set of the­ Murray/Verdasco match. Nice to see Murray back. 2000­ characters aren't really enough to explain why.­ Nothing to do with being Scottish or British (least in­ my case). All to do with tennis.

    From rhymes450, on Sat 7 Nov 11:26PM
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