World number one Roger Federer got his Masters Cup campaign back on track by eliminating Russia's Nikolay Davydenko in straight sets on Wednesday. The triple Masters Cup champion, shocked in his opening match by Fernando Gonzalez, overwhelmed the Russian 6-4, 6-3 in one hour and 27 minutes to remain in the running for his sixth straight semi-final.
"It's a different situation coming back after losing," Federer said. "I tried to get off to a good start. I felt pretty good from the start. "I don't have the best record on making break points but I create many opportunities so eventually I will break through and break their will."
Federer was expected to come out firing after losing against Gonzalez, but he made a pedestrian start before pouncing in the eighth game, converting his first break point as Davydenko put a backhand volley long.
The Swiss, who sprayed an eyebrow-raising 39 unforced errors, suffered an unaccustomed wobble when serving for the set and swiped a baseline backhand into the net to be broken back.
However, Davydenko's revival proved short-lived as Federer, recovering his aggression, broke again for the set as the Russian miscued badly with a forehand volley. Federer converted the last of five break points at 2-1 in the second to put a stranglehold on the match, roaring with delight as he finally found form.
Davydenko's volley failed him yet again as Federer broke for 5-1. But the Swiss was again broken when serving for the set, and the match, before finally finishing it 6-3 on Davydenko's misfired backhand.
The result means Davydenko, appearing at his third straight Masters Cup, cannot reach the semi-finals following his opening loss to Andy Roddick. "It's not impossible to beat Federer but it's tough, mentally and physically," said the Russian, who has not won against the Swiss in 11 meetings. "Today was really tough physically. I played some good points, I played very fast and sometimes very well, but I couldn't always keep my concentration."
For Federer, also beaten in Paris by David Nalbandian, it ended a run of two straight defeats, his first since 2003. He had never lost in 15 round robin matches at the season finale until Monday.
The 26-year-old Swiss triumphed in 2003, 2004 and 2006, with his only previous defeats coming in the 2002 semis to Lleyton Hewitt and in the 2005 final to David Nalbandian. Davydenko, who will prepare for this month's Davis Cup final against the United States, is coming off a troubled year with the ATP investigating suspicious betting patterns relating to a match he played in Poland in August.
However he won an appeal against a 2,000-dollar fine for not trying hard enough during the St Petersburg Open, when he made a series of errors against Croatian qualifier Marin Cilic. Davydenko was also rebuked by the chair umpire and jeered by fans when he sent down a series of double faults in losing to Marcos Baghdatis at the Paris Masters. Roddick was facing Gonzalez in Wednesday's later match in the 4.45-million-dollar tournament, featuring the world's top eight players.
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