GA_googleAddSlot("ca-pub-1197233282945943", "Star_Sports_Skyscraper");

Sports

Thursday October 1, 2009

Davydenko hunting for points to make tour Finals

KUALA LUMPUR: It is going to be a tight and exciting race in the coming weeks with five players, including world No. 8 Nikolay Davydenko contending for three remaining berths in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London from Nov 22-29.

World No. 1 Roger Federer of Switzerland, Rafael Nadal of Spain, Andy Murray of Britain, Novak Djokovic of Serbia and US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina have secured places in the tournament featuring the top-eight ranked players in the world.

Davydenko said that every tournament from now will be important for him, including the Malaysian Open in which he is the top seed.

“Basically, I need to earn ranking points to compete in the World Finals. After Kuala Lumpur, I will compete in another four tournaments,” said the Russian, who is seeking a third Tour title this year.

“Right now, I feel I am playing my best tennis but anything can happen at this stage.”

A successful run in the Malaysian Open should give Davydenko a place in the Finals as the winner earns 250 ranking points.

Davydenko now has 3,535 points and is behind world No. 7 Jo-Wilfriend Tsonga of France, who has 3,655 points.

“It will depend on how I start in each of the tournament I play in. A good start will boost my confidence and self-believe in order to gain good results,” he said.

Davydenko will also compete in the China Open (Beijing, Oct 5-11), Shanghai ATP Masters (Oct 11-18), Kremlin Cup (Moscow, Oct 19-25) and the BNP Paribas Masters (Paris, Nov 8-15) before the World Finals.

Also fighting to qualify for the Finals are Tsonga and French compatriot Gilles Simon, American Andy Roddick and Spaniard Fernando Verdasco.

Meanwhile, French player Gael Monfils, after barely five hours in Kuala Lumpur, shrugged off the effects of jet-lag to advance to the second round of the Malaysian Open with a hard-fought 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-2) win over Uzbekistans Denis Istomin yesterday.

“I went straight to have breakfast when I arrived at the hotel at 9am. It was a long journey after winning in Metz,” said Monfils, who ended his four-year title drought by winning the Open de Moselle on Sunday.

“I drove to my home in Geneva to pack up and headed to Paris to catch my flight to Kuala Lumpur. I was tired when I started my match but I didn’t care as I wanted to win my opening round encounter.”

The French world No. 13 was optimistic that he would get over the jet-lag.

“I will have good rest today and I hope to play better tomorrow,” added the 23-year-old, who is down to play against Argentina’s Martin Vassallo Arguello today for a place in the quarter-finals.

  • E-mail this story
  • Print this story

Sports Poll