KEY POINTS:
Nikolay Davydenko, already at the centre of a betting investigation, was fined US$2000 ($2663) for not trying hard enough during a loss at the St Petersburg Open.
The ATP said yesterday the fourth-ranked Russian was fined for "lack of best effort" in Thursday's 1-6, 7-5, 6-1 defeat to
Marin Cilic. The top-seeded Davydenko won the first set in 27 minutes, but drew a rebuke from chair umpire Jean-Philippe Dercq in the third set.
"When I made a double fault, he gave me a notice for a wrong behaviour on the court as if I was throwing the match," Davydenko told reporters. "I was surprised. I've never heard anything like this before. No matter how I'd played, no matter what had happen to me, I was never given such a notice."
Davydenko said that during the exchange, Dercq asked him about his condition. Davydenko first said there was nothing wrong and later said the problem was in his legs.
"He could not solve my problem anyway, that why I first told him I was OK, but I didn't play the way I did in the first set. That's why he gave me a notice," Davydenko said. "Later I told him that my legs have collapsed. I could not move."
The Russian double-faulted four times in the second set and six times in the third.
"I felt I wanted, but could not [win]," Davydenko said. "It really knocked me out and I lost my serve and the second set and psychologically I was no longer on the court. I was completely switched off. It's a rare thing but it does happen."
The ATP is investigating, and has spoken to Davydenko about, a match in August in which online gambling site Betfair voided bets on a match in Poland involving the Russian because of irregular betting patterns. Davydenko, who won the first set 6-1, withdrew against 87th-ranked Martin Vassallo Arguello in the third set because of a foot injury.
Davydenko qualified for the season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai next month by winning the Kremlin Cup two weeks ago.
He is scheduled to play next week in the Paris Masters, where he is the defending champion.
Meanwhile, world tennis No. 1 Roger Federer cruised into the semifinals of the Swiss Indoors, his home tournament in Basel, by beating Nicolas Kiefer 6-3, 6-2.
Federer served his first ace on second serve to gain three match points and won on his first when Kiefer miss-hit a shot into the roof of the hall. If he repeats as champion, Federer will also end the year as the world's top-ranked player for the fourth straight season.
Federer, who won three of four Grand Slams this year, only losing at the French Open, beat Kiefer for the ninth straight time and is 10-3 against the German, who has made a strong comeback in the second half of the season after missing more than a year with a wrist injury.
Jarkko Nieminen upset second-seeded Fernando Gonzalez 6-3, 7-5 and damaged the Chilean's hopes of qualifying for the Masters Cup. In his third semifinal of the year, Nieminen will play 2005 runner-up Marcos Baghdatis, who beat eighth-seeded Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-2, 7-6 (5).
Nieminen scored his first win against Gonzalez in five attempts, but not before wasting two match points while leading 5-4. He also fought off three break points before gaining his third match point and converting it with a backhand down the line.
"I played very good tennis last year but I could not beat top 10 guys," Nieminen said. "This has been a very up and down year but I got my confidence back and I am beating them."
