TENNIS : Nikolay Davydenko admits an end to his grand slam duck could still be a long way off despite his brilliant victory at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.
Nikolay Davydenko admits an end to his grand slam duck could still be a long way off despite his brilliant victory at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.
The Russian claimed the biggest title of his career with a 6-3 6-4 win over US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro at London’s O2 Arena, capping a week in which he had also beaten Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer – for the first time in 13 meetings.
“If grand slams become best-of-three sets, yes (I can win). Because in three sets winning matches is much easier,” said Davydenko. “I don’t know what I need to do for the next season. I need to have very good physical preparation for the five-set matches. You need to run not for two hours, you need to run for four hours.”
As well as the trophy and enough ranking points to take him back up to number six in the world, Davydenko also collected a cheque for more than US dollars 1.5million – the most lucrative in tennis.
And the Russian is now hoping he may have enough money to finally buy a flat in Moscow.
Reflecting on his windfall, he said: “I want to buy an apartment still. It’s still expensive, so I wait. This is one million, but it is not enough. Maybe this million will give me a chance to buy an apartment in Moscow for next year.”
