Tennis: Federer beats iron man Davydenko

Federer became the first man in the Open Era to reach six straight grand slam finals. Picture / Reuters

NEW YORK - Time and Roger Federer finally caught up with Nikolay Davydenko on Saturday as the iron man of the men's tour was beaten in the semi-finals of the US Open by the world number one.

In his second grand slam semi-final, the Russian was eventually found wanting but having had only two weeks off the tour all year, he is finally ready to take a breather before resuming normal service later this month.

"Maybe I have a few days now before Beijing [which starts on Monday], before I need to play there, Davydenko joked after his 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 defeat by Federer.

"But after this, I have two weeks off."

Like his fellow Russian, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, before him, Davydenko is the iron man of the men's game, having played a tour-high 30 tournaments in 2005 including a run to the semi-finals of the French Open.

This year, he has already played 26 and plans to play at least four more.

The 25-year-old broke into the top 10 last year and cemented his position among the elite in 2006, winning three titles to date and reaching the last four at the US Open for the first time.

"Sometimes I take rest if I play too many matches," Davydenko said. "But I don't win so much like Federer. He comes into tournament, wins the tournament. And then next week, that's when he takes it off, like [Rafael] Nadal.

"I play quarters, play semis. It's not enough, I would say. It's only three, four matches in a week."

Davydenko says he will play four tournaments in the indoor season as he chases a place in the season-ending Masters Cup, for the top eight performers in the calendar year.

In truth, though, Davydenko will not even have a full two weeks off as he is due to join up with the rest of the Russia team for the Davis Cup semi-final against the United States in Moscow, which takes place on Sept 22-24.

With the match due to be played on clay in Moscow, Russia are favourites to advance to the final, but Davydenko said he was wary of over-confidence.

"We are also scared to play at home on clay in Moscow," he said. "Too many people, trying to pressure us to win in the semi-final. It is not so easy for us also.

"We don't know yet who is playing [singles]. But we have four good players. [Mikhail] Youzhny is in semis here. (Marat) Safin is playing better and better. [Dmitry] Tursunov, he played very well at Roland Garros."

Davydenko admitted that it had probably been better for the tournament that he had not upset Federer to reach the final.

"I know everybody is waiting for [Andy] Roddick in the final against Federer," he said.

"Nobody wants to wait for the final to be Youzhny-Davydenko at US Open. For the American fans, it should be Roddick against Federer. It's OK."

- REUTERS