Davydenko Bagels Ferrero for ATP Umag Crown

Nikolay Davydenko has never surpassed the semifinals at the French Open, but on Sunday displayed his level on clay with a 6-3, 6-0 pounding of former No. 1 and French Open champ Juan Carlos Ferrero in the final at the ATP Studena Croatia Open in Umag.

"It was very tough at the beginning until 3-3 in the first set and then I made the break and continued to play very fast," Davydenko said. "At the start of the second set I could see that he was a little bit tired and losing his concentration so I kept playing good. I played really good in the semifinal and final here, I don't know why, maybe it is luck."

It was the second straight dirt-court title for the Russian after last week in Hamburg. It is the first time in his career that the 28-year-old Davydenko has won back-to-back titles.

It is also the first time since 2005 (Vienna, Barcelona) that Ferrero has reached multiple ATP World Tour finals in the same season.
 
"I had spoken to a few players and I had heard that Davydenko was playing very good all week, moving very fast and hitting a lot of winners," Ferrero said. "I tried to start very aggressively but he was too good in the end today. Maybe I was also a little bit tired in the second set. He played at a really high rhythm from the first point to the last today. I wasn't able to recover as I would have liked after a long three-set match yesterday."

In the doubles final Frantisek Cermak and two-time defending champion Michal Mertinak captured their third title of the season after defeating No. 2 seeds Johan Brunstrom of Sweden and Jean-Julien Rojer of Curacao 6-4, 6-4.