ATP World Tour No. 8 Nikolay Davydenko edged closer to claiming one of the three remaining spots at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals after clinching his third ATP World Tour title of the season Sunday at the inaugural Proton Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur 2009.
In the sixth final on the ATP World Tour this season to feature the top two seeds, No. 1 Davydenko defeated No. 2 Fernando Verdasco 6-4, 7-5 to triumph at the ATP World Tour 250 indoor hard-court tennis tournament.
The Russian received a valuable 250 South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking points, while fellow Barclays ATP World Tour Finals qualification contender Verdasco earned 150 Ranking points.
"It feels great to win the first tournament in Kuala Lumpur," commented Davydenko. "I also won Warsaw last year which was the first time the tournament was held. As the defending champion I have to come back in 2010 to defend my title."
The 28-year-old Davydenko is the fifth player this year to win at least three ATP World Tour titles. Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray have both won five, Roger Federer has titled four times, while Juan Martin del Potro has also captured three titles.
The Volgograd resident broke serve once from five opportunities to seal the first set after 43 minutes, having surrendered just seven points behind serve. The pair exchanged service breaks early in the second set and Verdasco had set point chances before Davydenko gained a crucial break in the 11th game to lead 6-5 before serving out victory after 95 minutes.
Davydenko improved to an impressive 6-1 mark against Verdasco. He also defeated the Spaniard in straight sets in the fourth round at Roland Garros earlier this year.
"I feel very tired," confessed Davydenko. "In the first set we played difficult points. In the second set the points were getting shorter. Just the first game of the match took 10 minutes. It was hard to recover in between points.
"I improved in every match. In the second round against [Taylor] Dent I didn't play so good. Then against [Gael] Monfils I played better. In the semi-finals (against Robin Soderling) I played a good match and today was my best match in the week. I don't think I am in my best shape physically. But I am improving every week."
"I think I had many opportunities during the match," lamented Verdasco. "He just played better in some of the important points and in the second set I couldn't convert the set points which could have changed the outcome of the match."
Davydenko captured his 17th ATP World Tour title, the sixth-best total among active players on the ATP World Tour. The right-hander has won at least one ATP World Tour title each year since 2003, including five titles during 2006.
The Russian has compiled a 42-12 match record this season, also winning titles at the International German Open in Hamburg (d. Mathieu) and the ATP Studena Croatia Open in Umag (d. Ferrero).
The No. 9-ranked Verdasco was aiming to win his second ATP World Tour title of the season, to join his maiden hard-court crown won at Pilot Pen Tennis in New Haven (d. Querrey). The Madrid native was also a runner-up at the Brisbane International (l. to Stepanek) at the start of the season.
The 25 year old has had a stellar season, reaching his first Grand Slam semi-final at the Australian Open (l. to Nadal) and recently posting a quarter-final effort at the US Open (l. to Djokovic). He has been sidelined since the US Open with a foot injury, but said he was happy with how his first week back had gone.
"I am happy with the week in Kuala Lumpur," said the Spaniard. "I came here without having played much tennis because of my foot injury. It was important to get some confidence and rhythm for the next tournaments."
Verdasco is looking to cap his career-best ATP World Tour campaign by claiming a berth at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for the first time. He has compiled a 46-18 match record in 2009.