Davydenko Resurrected

Not that he ever died, but by winning the ATP World Tour Finals on Sunday, his biggest trophy to date - Nikolay Davydenko must have felt that he has risen from the grave. The Russian #1 was in the middle of a tennis betting scandal two years ago, and until now is answering questions about his integrity. But he played well enough in the last singles tournament of the year to escape with his 5th tournament of the year, and his biggest win in his career.

“I’m really surprised how with this difficult time I made good result, because I really know it’s staying always in your mind, and you stay under pressure from the press, from the fans, from the people everywhere in the world,” Davydenko said. “And everywhere, if I coming for tournament, press start to asking me about betting.”

It wasn't all smooth sailing for Davydenko in the tournament though. He lost his first match against Novak Djokovic, the defending champion and the same person he lost to in last year's finals. He won his next two matches against Rafael Nadal and Robin Soderling to qualify as the number two player from his group.

In the semis, he faced world number 1, Roger Federer, who he hasn't beaten in 12 matches. But, Nikolay Davydenko was finally able to snatch the win against the top player on his (lucky?) 13th try.

With the win, Davydenko beat all 3 Grand Slam champions this year, and 4 of the 5 grand slam finalists. He ends the year at #6. Not bad for a player who faced betting allegations and a ban had he been proven guilty.