Federer Claims Qatar Open
Federer claims his third Doha trophy
The New Year brings Roger Federer the 67th career title. The 29-year-old claimed his third trophy in Doha after beating third-seeded Nikolay Davydenko 6-3, 6-4 in just one hour and 19 minutes.
Federer managed to claim an early advantage, going 3-0 in the first set, to keep the Russian three games behind until the end of the opener. The second was tougher for the Swiss. Federer grabbed another break late in the ninth game to take a 5-4 lead and serve for the match. Finally, he claimed the victory in straight sets, thing which already allows the world No 2 to think about the first place in the standings.
Not only did he beat everyone in Qatar, but the Swiss even finished it with the sheet clean, without conceding any set. Winner of the 2005 and 2006 editions, Roger took advantage of Rafa Nadal’s elimination. The 24-year-old Spaniard, who also had to face an annoying fever (flu) in Doha, was ousted yesterday by the same Russian who beat him in straight sets.
The win helped Roger make history in Doha. He became the first player to win the trophy three times.
Davydenko passed Federer in last year’s semi final, but he couldn’t repeat the same performance on Sunday. As for the Swiss, he surely enjoyed playing in the Mid East. “This is a pleasure coming to this part of the world where I actually do spend quite a bit of time, and I’ve always had good friends here in Qatar. I love playing here, been successful here in the past,” he declared after the game.
Federer, who couldn’t be broken but once this week, is to pocket $177,000 and 250 ATP Ranking points ahead of the first major of the year, Australian Open. On contrast, Davydenko lamented his lack of pace and praised Swiss’s performance. “(Roger) Really played fast. He gave me no chance on the return, and also he was returning good. His first serve was very good,” the Russian ended. Davydenko leaves the mid East with $93,000 and 150 points.
