Nikolay Davydenko, the Russian who has to play with the constant uncertainty of an investigation hanging over him, earned himself a great chance of reaching only his second ATP Tour final for 17 months on Thursday. The world number five from Moscow overcame Andy Murray, the giantkiller from Britain, 7-5, 6-4, to become an unexpected semi-finalist at the Dubai Open.
Davydenko mixed consistency with aggression with superb attacks from the baseline against an opponent who had eliminated world number one Roger Federer in the first round. His continued excellence is all the more surprising considering that he still has no knowledge of how much longer the ATP Tour will need to check for evidence of whether or not he has had involvement in corrupt betting practices.