Russian Nikolay Davydenko destroyed Slovakia's Dominik Hrbaty 6-1 6-2 6-2 to take his first Masters Series title in expeditious manner on Sunday. Fourth seed Davydenko, the highest-ranked player in the Paris Masters field after a string of no-shows, needed just an hour and 38 minutes to tame a helpless Hrbaty.
Davydenko, who will move up two places to third in the ATP entry list on Monday, has now won five tournaments this year, the same as Rafael Nadal and James Blake. Only world number one Roger Federer, with 11, has claimed more.
"This is amazing," said Davydenko. "Winning a Masters Series for the first time is important and being number three in the world behind players such as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal is quite an achievement."
The 25-year-old Russian dropped just one set in the tournament. On the form he has displayed here all week, he has to be regarded as one of the favourites for the year-end Masters Cup featuring the world's top eight players, which starts on November 12 in Shanghai.
"If he plays as well as he did here, he's going to give Federer a tough time," Hrbaty predicted.
The 28-year-old Hrbaty, seeded 17th and appearing in a Masters Series final for the second time after finishing runner-up in Monte Carlo in 2000, was never in contention in a totally one-sided final.
"I don't think I ever played anybody who played better than he did today", said Hrbaty. "I didn't have any chances."
BUSY SCHEDULE:
Davydenko has a busy schedule ahead with not only the Masters Cup but also the Davis Cup final against Argentina in December. He also plans to get married before the end of the year.
The balding workaholic, who was playing his 31st tournament of the year, was already 5-0 up after 16 minutes and needed just 21 minutes to wrap up the first set.
Serving close to perfection and hitting merciless winners almost at will, he stayed on top in the second set until his opponent netted a forehand on set point.
Hrbaty, who had not played a final in more than two years, stepped up a gear in the third set but Davydenko was not impressed, breaking the Slovak in the fifth game and saving three break points to hold serve in the next.
Davydenko then captured his opponent's serve yet again and served for the match, wasting a match point before converting the second with a superb forehand winner.
The French Tennis Federation (FFT) asked on Saturday for urgent measures to protect the last regular men's event before the Masters Cup, which has been depleted for the last three years.
The ATP plans to introduced a reformed calendar in 2009 and its chairman, Etienne De Villiers, said this week in Paris that bans should be considered to stop the top players from missing major tournaments with no good excuse.
The FFT said, however, that it felt action should be taken sooner.
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