If you were to look at the post-US Open record, you’d point to 2 maybe 3 players that looked like they were doing pretty well, at least, enough to contend for the year-end title. You’d pick Djokovic, because he won Basel and Paris. You’d look at Murray, since he won Valencia. And you’d look at Davydenko, who won in Shanghai.
Last year, Davydenko had another great round-robin and beat the newly anointed “great”, Andy Murray, but lost in the finals to Novak Djokovic.
This year, Davydenko’s win over Soderling guaranteed it would be him, not Djokovic that would make the semifinals.
Given how good del Potro played against Soderling and Federer, few gave Davydenko a strong chance to win. However, Davydenko is very quick, and great an angles and change of directions. He breaks the mold of the modern player who is tall and hits hard. He is amazingly quick, and yet can hit sharp crosscourt angles and down-the-line shots with equal ease.
Unlike Federer, who seemed to lack answers against del Potro, Davydenko used his speed and guile to engineer two breaks of serve, one in each set, to knock out del Potro, a guy who seems to beat the big names at the big occasions. The final score: 6-3, 6-4. del Potro seemed a bit flat-footed, perhaps fatigued by his 3-setter against Soderling.
Occasionally, the little guy wins, and in this case, after a year where Davydenko was injured and unable to play his best, this has to feel like a reward for someone who plays on tour as much as any player. He may not look like the typical champ, but he’s still a player to reckon with.
And so, after a year that started in early January, the final event ends nearly 11 months later, at the end of November. The players don’t get much rest. Most will spend this one month off-season to train for January and the start of the year. Roger Federer finds himself back where he did in 2009, trying to figure out how to stabilize his game. Rafael Nadal looks to retool his game, one that seemed to fail him at the French, and never quite get in place the rest of the year. Andy Murray made the semifinals of Wimbledon, but didn’t get close to reaching his coveted US Open. Much is predicted of Murray, but he has still to break through and claim his first Slam. del Potro showed he could peak at the big events, but can he play well year-round?
For now, it’s time to close another year on tennis, and for the players to rest up again. It’s been a long year. So congratulations to Rafael Nadal at the AO, Roger Federer at the FO and Wimbledon and Juan Martin del Potro for winning his first Slam at the USO. And congratulations for the unlikely year-end champion, Nikolay Davydenko, a player who saw his rank slip out of the top 10, but fought hard at the end of the year to win as meaningful a title as he’s ever won.