We have a winner: the 2008 Sony Ericsson Open men’s singles champion is Nikolay Davydenko, who defeated second-ranked Rafael Nadal Sunday to hoist his first Sony Ericsson Open trophy.
In one of the strongest performances of the Russian’s tennis career, Davydenko dominated the Spaniard in straight sets (6-4, 6-2) with strong serving, solid baseline play and balanced court movement.
Even as the fourth-ranked player in the world, Davydenko was considered an underdog even in his semifinal matchup Friday against sixth-ranked Andy Roddick, who had beat the Russian five times in five meetings.
Entering the Sony Ericsson Open final, the two top-five ranked players had only played against one another twice, with Nadal winning both matchups. With Roger Federer’s quarterfinal loss to Andy Roddick and a strong South Florida fanbase, Nadal was heavily favored to win his first title in
After Nadal created a 3-2 lead in the first set, Davydenko took off, dominating the rest of the match and allowing Nadal only three more games. With the early break in the first game of the second set, Davydenko established the tone for his 6-2 second set victory.
With his finals win, Davydenko became the first Russian to win a Sony Ericsson Open men’s singles championship in its 24-year history.
Source: http://www.sonyericssonopen.com/content/20080407131445.html
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