Russian revels in victory

Davydenko: Memorable win

In 2009 the name Davydenko stays forever for this trophy. I think it's amazing.

Nikolay Davydenko
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ATP World Tour Finals champion Nikolay Davydenko has spoken of his pride after overcoming Juan Martin Del Potro to lift the trophy on Sunday.

The Russian completed a week to remember inside the O2 Arena with a 6-3 6-4 triumph over the US Open champion to clinch the end of season title.

Davydenko, who also collected a cheque for more than 1.5million US dollars, had already beaten Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer and made it a clean sweep of this year's grand slam winners with a commanding victory over Del Potro.

Speaking after his emotional win, Davydenko, who lost to Novak Djokovic in the 2008 final, said: "Until 2008, so many names there, like Djokovic, Federer, everyone, (Pete) Sampras.

Powerful

"In 2009 the name Davydenko stays forever for this trophy. I think it's amazing. I know the history of the Masters Cup. For my name to be there is something amazing for me."

Both players reached the final courtesy of energy-sapping three-set semi-final victories the previous day.

Davydenko overcome world number one Federer having booked his spot in the last four on Friday with an equally gruelling three-set triumph over Robin Soderling.

And the 28-year-old admitted he surprised himself with how well he played against the powerful Del Potro.

He continued: "Before the match, I was warming up, I was so tired. I was already starting to be scared about how I start to play the match, how I can play against Del Potro.

"And really in the beginning, (from the) first game, I won my first serve. I started to get really good concentration, to be positive, everything was a good feeling."

Unbelievable

The title triumph means Davydenko has climbed up to number six in the world rankings while Del Potro finished a breakthrough campaign as the fourth best player on tour.

Speaking on Sunday's outcome, the Argentinian heaped praise on Davydenko's consistency throughout the year.

"This tournament has a great champion," Del Potro said. "He worked hard to beat every player here this week. He played much better than me, and that's it. He played unbelievable tennis.

"He's very fast. He played like PlayStation - he ran everywhere. It's very difficult to make winners. Nobody knows how we can beat him."