Davydenko Advances to Semis at ATP World Finals

Nikolay Davydenko grabbed the last semifinal spot at the ATP World Tour Finals by beating Robin Soderling 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-3 Friday, knocking defending champion Novak Djokovic out of the tournament.

Spain's Rafael Nadal being treated during a break in his ATP World Tour Finals tennis match against Serbia's Novak Djokovic at the 02 Arena in London, Friday, Nov. 27, 2009. (AP Photo/Sang Tan)

(AP)

Davydenko, Djokovic and Soderling all finished with two wins in the round-robin phase, but the third-ranked Serb was eliminated on sets. Soderling had already secured advancement and finished at the top of Group B.

Djokovic beat Rafael Nadal 7-6 (5), 6-3 earlier Friday, handing the Spaniard his third straight loss at the tournament.

Davydenko will face top-ranked Roger Federer in Saturday's first semifinal match. Soderling, who entered the tournament as an alternate after Andy Roddick pulled out because of injury, will take on U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro later in the day in a matchup of big hitters.

"He's probably very confident now, beating Roger yesterday," Soderling said of the Argentine. "So I have to step it up at least one level from today's match. But I think I can do it. I played good this whole week."

Davydenko, who reached the final of the lucrative season-ending tournament last year, broke Soderling for the first time to take a 4-2 lead in the decider and converted his second match point when the Swede missed an easy forehand at the net with a wide-open court.

The Russian, who double-faulted on the first match point, reacted with a stunned look of disbelief before letting out a celebratory yell.

"I was thinking now (it will be) deuce, I already need to think about my serve," Davydenko said. "I could not believe, he cannot hit (it) out because these balls should be in. I don't know why he (made the) mistake."

In a match that featured plenty of big serves but few memorable rallies, Soderling was up a mini-break at 4-3 in the first-set tiebreaker but lost four points in a row. The Russian converted his first set point with an overhead smash.

Soderling, who reached his first Grand Slam final this year at the French Open, slipped when running to the net while serving at 4-3 in the second set and fell hard to the ground. He got up seemingly unscathed and later got the first break of the match to go up 5-4 before serving out the set.