09 January,2010 07:22 AM IST | | AFP
Roger Federer, who ended the 2009 season with a surprise loss to Nikolay Davydenko in London, ended his first tournament of 2010 with another defeat to the surprising, little celebrated Russian.
Federer was not at his best, never serving particularly well, and mistiming a few important balls on the backhand side, but the more remarkable thing about his 6-4, 6-4 defeat how he was often bullied by Davydenko's fierce flat-hitting from the baseline.
World No 1 Roger Federer takes a breather during his match against
Nikolay Davydenko at the Khalifa International Tennis Complex in
Doha yesterday. PIC/AFP
Davydenko's excellent performance carried him into a Qatar Open final against Rafael Nadal, perhaps increasing the chances of the former world number one from Spain winning his first title since triumphing in Rome in early May.
However Davydenko, who appears to have gained more aura and self-belief since capturing the ATP World Tour Masters title and was bristling with confidence after his second successive win over Federer.
"Before I lost 12 times in a row to Federer, but because I beat him in London I felt like I really could win," Davydenko said. "I still had the level I had in London, and that was good -- but I don't know how long I can keep it up."
Federer did not seem too concerned about the setback. "I have to get my unforced errors down, but apart from that I moved well and I didn't think my performance was too bad," Federer said.
