13th time's that charm? Thats the story of Nikolay Davydenko, who on Saturday defeated longtime rival Roger Federer for the 1st time in 13 tries, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, to advance to the finals of the ATP Year-End Championships. Federer started the match poorly, as he did with all his matches this week, missing put-away shots while the Russian controlled the points with his pin-point accuracy and lazer-like groundstrokes. “I was a couple of points away, but just couldn’t get it done,” said Federer, who lead 0-30 while Davydenko served at 4-5 in the 3rd. “He did well. I thought he played strong throughout, even though I don’t think it was our best match we ever played against each other.” The 15-time GS champ controlled the match from the beginning of the 2nd until that pivotal game in the deciding set, and looked like he would come out on top. “All my family, everybody who supports me, wait for this moment, when I can beat Federer,” said the victor. “I was thinking it coming maybe 2010 or ’11. But in 2009, end of the season, it’s good feeling.” In the 2nd semifinal matchup, Juan Martin del Potro faced Robin Soderling. Both went into the match with identical 2-1 records and it was very well known that these two would be hitting the ball with relentless power. Soderling came out on top in the 1st set, 7-6 (1). Del Potro ceased to control the points, but in the end, the Argentine's defense, with a little help from Soderling's nerves, assisted JMDP in winning the following 2 sets 6-3 and 7-6 (3).
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