I think, in my opinion, that the Masters Cup final we are going to have tomorrow is the worst possible outcome. Of all the players to make it to the final, why, why, WHY did it have to be Djokovic and Davydenko?
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Let's start with Djokovic. Good tennis player, I grant you - he has the Slam to prove it. But he has the most repellent personality I can remember in tennis. John McEnroe was an angry little man, but Djokovic is an immature, rude, disrespectful little prat. It takes more than a good tennis game to make a champion, to make a Master, which is what the winner of the Masters Cup ought to be. Djokovic is a good player, but by these standards, he is not a Master. And even his game is not that impressive right now - though he did get through to the Masters final, so I guess he has something for him. But that was a tight one he played against Simon - and we all know his fatigue issues. Can he hold up?
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Davydenko, on the other hand, played a superb match. Djokovic beat him in the round robin stage, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if Davydenko pulled out the big one and took the final. I think I'd prefer that - Djokovic has played better tennis this year, but if you look at his career, Davydenko deserves a really big title, and outside a Slam, this is the best you can have. Not that I in any way am a Kolya groupie, because we all know my attitude to his attitude about tennis. At least Djokovic has never come out and said that he hates tennis and is over it and whatever, which, when Kolya said, I found very disrespectful to the game in general and his opponents in particular. But he seems to have screwed his head on a bit now, and though he hasn't been playing brilliantly of late - certainly not since the appearance of Murray - he's been steadily improving.
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In that sense, his victory over Murray is quite symbolic. Davydenko used to be entrenched at #4, the best of the rest position. Murray has not only taken over that spot, but made a play to be included in the best, instead of the rest. Maybe his big victory is his way of saying he's not done just yet. In that case, I want Davydenko to win. This time last year, Djokovic was the Murray. And Kolya's got a bit of tennis in him yet - even if he didn't believe it himself for a while.
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Still, I'm not happy about this final. It should be Roger/Rafa. But I guess tennis is essentially unpredictable, and it's the best man on the day that comes through - even in the Masters Cup.
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Today's Results
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Tennis Masters Cup (Shanghai)
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Nikolay Davydenko def. Andy Murray, 7-5 6-2
Novak Djokovic def. Gilles Simon, 4-6 6-3 7-5
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3 comments:
wasn't the final i was hoping for either, but considering the number of matches fed and rafa played this year, i'm not surprised to find both of them limping out of 2008.
To be honest Murray made a choice in to fully invest in that match against Federer -admirable but perhaps a little naive. I wasn't surprised to see him go out in straight sets to Davydenko.
http://tennisisserved.blogspot.com
Davydenko dominated Murray because the Scot was tired. But Davy still had to play quality tennis to wear Murray down until he had no more fight left. It's a shame Murray didn't get a day inbetween matches.
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