[穆瑞] Davydenko ends Murray's Cup run
Page last updated at 14:05 GMT, Saturday, 15 November 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/7730207.stm
Davydenko ends Murray's Cup run
MASTERS CUP final, Shanghai:
Andy Murray's brilliant season came to an end as Nikolay Davydenko beat
him 7-5 6-2 in the Masters Cup semi-finals.
The Briton was visibly tired after Friday's epic victory over Roger
Federer and Davydenko made him pay, breaking in game 12 for the first set.
The Russian continued to batter Murray from the baseline and the Scot
succumbed as Davydenko secured the double break to wrap up the match.
Davydenko will face Novak Djokovic, who beat Gilles Simon, in Sunday's
final.
It brings to and end a stellar season for Murray, who has risen from 11th
to fourth in the world rankings, won his first two Masters Series titles,
reached a first Grand Slam final at the US Open, and was playing in the
season-ending Masters Cup for the first time.
And he had no second thoughts about giving everything to beat Federer on
Friday, despite having already qualified for the last four.
Great things have happened - Murray
"I beat probably the best player of all time, I have no regrets about doing
that," he said. "To beat him means a similar amount to winning a tournament
like this."
"Ideally I would have liked to have beaten him easier and given myself a
slightly better chance to prepare for this match. But I don't like losing, so
I'm not going to.
"I'm proud that I gave 110%. I think other players might not have taken that
option, but I'm happy that I did."
Murray was unbeaten in his three group matches in Shanghai and was on
course to scoop the $1.34m prize for going through the week undefeated.
Davydenko was an obstacle too far, however, the Russian's punishing
baseline game proving a nightmare as Murray returned to court just 19 hours
after his three-hour marathon with Federer.
The Briton looked tired from the outset and Davydenko broke straight away,
converting his fourth break point of the opening game with a backhand volley.
I was lucky Murray beat Federer yesterday, but I played very well today and
won.
Nikolay Davydenko
Murray showed immediately that he was up for the fight, floating a chipped
return onto the baseline to force an error on break point in the following
game.
Davydenko remained the dominant force, missing two more break points in
game three, but Murray had a half-chance when leading 4-3 and 0-30, with
Russian on second serve.
A tired return over the baseline left Murray fuming, however, and
Davydenko escaped before getting the decisive breakthrough at 5-5.
Murray appeared to have saved a break point with a serve down the middle
but Hawkeye proved otherwise, and in the replayed point the Scot suffered
with a net cord.
Davydenko served out the set confidently enough with an ace and a
backhand winner and took charge of the second set, breaking in games five and
seven of the as Murray finally wilted.
"I don't want to try to make excuses. He played much better than me," said
Murray.
606: DEBATE
Murray struggled to keep up with the Russian from game one
U3020163
"In the circumstances, naturally I was going to be tired. I did the best that
I could with what I had. I just felt a little bit tired.
"He's a tough guy to play against if you're not feeling like you can chase
every ball down.
"He doesn't miss a whole lot. He takes the ball so early. I thought he played
really, really well, and I couldn't get much going because he was making me
do a lot of running."
Davydenko said: "I was lucky Murray beat Federer yesterday, but I played very
well today and won.
"He wanted to show he was the best player by beating Federer so maybe he was
really tired."
In Saturday's first semi-final, Simon took the first set against a
below-par Djokovic but the Frenchman faded after being treated for a neck
injury early in the second set.
Djokovic himself had the trainer on in the final set, for a calf injury
and a long-standing breathing problem, but the Serb held on for a 4-6 6-3 7-5
win in two hours 51 minutes.
"It's a huge success for me to reach the final," said the 21-year-old, who
lost all of his matches without winning a set on his Masters Cup debut last
year.
"It would be great if I can end up with the title. I didn't have such a great
last couple of months of the season."
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