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Federer bounces back at Masters
World number one Roger Federer got his Masters Cup campaign back on track by eliminating Russia's Nikolay Davydenko in straight sets on Wednesday.
- Agence France-Presse
- Updated: November 15, 2007 05:38 PM IST
Read Time:2 min
Shanghai:
The triple Masters Cup champion, shocked in his opening match by Fernando Gonzalez, overwhelmed the Russian 6-4, 6-3 in one hour and 27 minutes to remain in the running for his sixth straight semi-final.
Federer was expected to come out firing but he made a pedestrian start before pouncing in the eighth game, converting his first break point as Davydenko put a backhand volley long.
The Swiss, who sprayed an eyebrow-raising 22 unforced errors in the set, suffered an unaccustomed wobble when serving to go one-up and swiped a baseline backhand into the net to be broken back.
However, Davydenko's revival proved short-lived as Federer, recovering his aggression, broke again for the set as the Russian miscued badly with a forehand volley.
Federer converted the last of five break points at 2-1 in the second to put a stranglehold on the match, roaring with delight as he finally found form.
Davydenko's volley failed him yet again as Federer broke for 5-1. But the Swiss was again broken when serving for the set, and the match, before finally finishing it 6-3 on Davydenko's misfired backhand.
The result means Davydenko, appearing at his third straight Masters Cup, cannot reach the semi-finals following his opening loss to Andy Roddick.
It is also a boost for Federer, who had never lost a round robin match in 15 matches at the season finale until being beaten by Gonzalez on Monday.
World number one Roger Federer got his Masters Cup campaign back on track by eliminating Russia's Nikolay Davydenko in straight sets on Wednesday.The triple Masters Cup champion, shocked in his opening match by Fernando Gonzalez, overwhelmed the Russian 6-4, 6-3 in one hour and 27 minutes to remain in the running for his sixth straight semi-final.
Federer was expected to come out firing but he made a pedestrian start before pouncing in the eighth game, converting his first break point as Davydenko put a backhand volley long.
The Swiss, who sprayed an eyebrow-raising 22 unforced errors in the set, suffered an unaccustomed wobble when serving to go one-up and swiped a baseline backhand into the net to be broken back.
However, Davydenko's revival proved short-lived as Federer, recovering his aggression, broke again for the set as the Russian miscued badly with a forehand volley.
Federer converted the last of five break points at 2-1 in the second to put a stranglehold on the match, roaring with delight as he finally found form.
Davydenko's volley failed him yet again as Federer broke for 5-1. But the Swiss was again broken when serving for the set, and the match, before finally finishing it 6-3 on Davydenko's misfired backhand.
The result means Davydenko, appearing at his third straight Masters Cup, cannot reach the semi-finals following his opening loss to Andy Roddick.
It is also a boost for Federer, who had never lost a round robin match in 15 matches at the season finale until being beaten by Gonzalez on Monday.
Topics mentioned in this article
Tennis Andy Roddick Lukas Dlouhy Rohan Bopanna Leander Paes Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi Maria Sharapova
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