Top seed Roger Federer looks for his 54th career ATP singles title as he clashes with No. 2 seed Nikolay Davydenko in Sunday’s final at the Estoril Open, a €370,000 event contested on clay on Sunday.
World No. 4 Davydenko is searching for his first win over No. 1 Roger Federer, having lost to him in all 11 of their previous matches, including three times last year in the semifinals of Roland Garros and the US Open, and in the Tennis Masters Cup.
Competing in his 71st ATP final, Federer is bidding for his 54th title this week, having not won a title since the Tennis Masters Cup at the end of last year; it is the first time since 1999 that neither of the Top 2 players in the South African Airways ATP Rankings has won a title going into the European clay court season. Should he be successful, he will have won ATP titles in 17 different countries, the most among active players on the ATP circuit.
Federer, who is making his debut in Estoril, is practicing this week with Spaniard Jose Higueras, who coached former Roland Garros champions Jim Courier and Michael Chang.
The 26-year-old Federer has now reached the quarterfinals or better in four of his five events entered this season, although is through to just his first final of the campaign. He reached the semifinals of the Australian Open (l. to Djokovic) and ATP Masters Series Indian Wells (l. to Fish), and the quarterfinals in AMS Miami (l. to Roddick).
Federer has a 97-40 career record against Top 10 players, although he has lost his past two efforts, against No. 3 Novak Djokovic No. 6 Andy Roddick.
Davydenko’s 6-2, 6-2 semifinal victory against Florent Serra was his 11th straight victory. The 26-year-old Russian, who claimed his second ATP Masters Series shield at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami recently (d. No. 2 Rafael Nadal in the final) is now an ATP circuit-best 24-5 record on the season.
Davydenko is looking to become the second player (Nalbandian) to beat No. 1 Federer and No. 2 Nadal in an ATP final. Nalbandian accomplished the feat at ATP Masters Series Madrid (d. Federer) and Paris (d. Nadal) last year.
Davydenko is through to his third final at the Estoril Open. Having made his debut in 2001, he captured the title in 2003 (d. Callleri) and finished runner-up in 2006 (l. to Nalbandian). He has a tournament record of 13-4.
Davydenko will be looking to improve on a 17-38 career record against Top 10 players. (ATP Digital Services)
