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17.11 - Russian Nikolay Davydenko avoided a 0-3 rout at Tennis Masters Cup when he defeated Fernando Gonzalez 6-4, 6-3 Friday to claim his first win of the 2007 circuit finale. The result sent the Chilean tumbling out of semifinal contention and guaranteed that Roger Federer would reach the last four, regardless of the outcome of his group match with Andy Roddick.
For Gonzalez, the Masters Cup brought mixed fortunes. He broke a career 10-match losing streak against Federer in his first match of the round-robin stage, but that performance may have taken more out of the Chilean than was first thought. He failed to win a set in his following two matches against Andy Roddick and Davydenko.
But Gonzalez still enjoyed the best year of his career, bookended by his first Grand Slam final at the Australian Open and his first appearance at the circuit finale, after which he will finish a career-best year-end No.7 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings.
Gonzalez said: “For me always is tough to play against Davydenko. He play really fast and both sides are really good, have really good return. But today I give my best, and I think wasn’t enough.
“I was really excited because I still having chances to go to the semis, but it was really tough. I didn’t feel like on the first day.”
* Here, you can download (pdf), the written interviews with Fernando during the Masters Cup, enjoy !!
[Match vs Federer.pdf] [Match vs Roddick.pdf] [Match vs Davydenko.pdf]
[To download - Video interview - english]
[To download - Video interview - spanish]
[From gonzaleztenis.com - Translation by the webmaster]
Hello friends,
I ended my participation in the Masters of Shanghai. Today, was not a good day, but I leave in peace. I think I played a good tennis this week. I gave everything and unfortunately it was not enough to arrive much further.
Today, the match against Davydenko, was a very tough match. The first set was hard and lasted more than 1 hour, and all the points were played. He’s a great player from the bottom of the court, with regular strokes. At the end, I lost, but I gave everything on the court.
Now, comes a very good rest, after a good year, and to get strengh for the events to come, and I hope that it will better than it was. Thanks to everyone for your messages of support and good luck to the chilean national team in Montevideo.
Fernando 
16.11 - Here is a brief guide to who needs to what and to whom in order to reach the semi finals. If Nikolay Davydenko (who cannot qualify whatever happens) beats Fernando Gonzalez, then Roger Federer goes through to the last four. If Gonzalez beats Davydenko and Federer beats Andy Roddick (who has already qualified), Gonzalez is out and Federer is through. In order to qualify, Gonzalez needs to beat Davydenko and hope against hope that Roddick beats Federer. Right, that’s the singles sorted out.
Friday, November 16, 2007
CENTER COURT start 3:00 pm
M Knowles (BAH) / D Nestor (CAN) vs L Dlouhy (CZE) / P Vizner (CZE)
Not Before 5:00 PM
N Davydenko (RUS) vs F Gonzalez (CHI)
Not Before 7:30 PM
R Federer (SUI) vs A Roddick (USA)
S Aspelin (SWE) / J Knowle (AUT) vs A Clement (FRA) / M Llodra (FRA)
