Davydenko one step away from his first Asian title
Published: 03 October, 2009, 17:34
Malasia, Kuala Lumpur : Nikolay Davydenko of Russia returns hits a return to Robin Soderling of Sweden during their semi final match of the Malaysian Open tennis tournament at the Putra Stadium in Kuala Lumpur on October 3, 2009. (AFP Photo / Kamarul Akhir)
World number 11 Nikolay Davydenko of Russia has beaten Swede Robin Soderling 1-6, 7-6, 6-2 to reach the final of the ATP Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur.
Soderling won the first set 6-1, and seemed to be in great form, but Davydenko, who racked up 15 unforced errors in the opening set, got into his stride in the second set.
Both players traded a break each to take the set to 6-6 and into a tie-break, which Davydenko dominated 7-1.
Davydenko continued to control the deciding set, dictating the rallies and exposing flaws in Soderling's game.
The Russian broke to lead 3-2 and then took three more games to claim the final set 6-2.
This was the Russian’s second career win over Soderling in their eight meetings. The victory sees him advance to the final in Kuala Lumpur, where he will face Spain’s Fernando Verdasco, who outplayed Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez in straight sets.
If Davydenko wins it, he will claim his first ATP title in Asia.
03.10.2009, 11:34
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