Inspired Davydenko thrashes Nadal

Russian fourth seed Nikolay Davydeno won the Sony Ericsson title with a 6-4 6-2 victory over Spain's second-seeded Rafael Nadal on Sunday.

Davydenko, the first Russian to win the title in its 24-year history, dominated the one hour, 22 minute contest and never allowed Nadal to find his rhythm.

"I had never played very well here in Miami," said Davydenko in a courtside interview. "Now I have won my second Masters Series title and it's crazy for me."

Davydenko picked up his first title of the year after beating crowd favourite and sixth seed Andy Roddick in the semi-finals before overcoming world number two Nadal.

"He was playing unbelievable tennis and there was nothing I could do," said Nadal, who is still without a title this year.

Bhupathi-Knowles lose

Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles' quest for a third ATP doubles title this season ended in disappointment after a straight-set mauling at the hands of top seeds Mike and Bob Bryan in the finals of the $ 3,77,0000 Sony Ericsson Open here.

The fourth seeded Indo-Bahamas pair went down 2-6, 2-6 to the defending champions in a lopsided 53-minute encounter yesterday.The win gave the Americans their first ATP title of the season.

The Bryans were appearing in their ATP-best fifth final of the year after runner-up finishes in Sydney, San Jose, Las Vegas and Delray Beach. The title win here was their 45th career title together (11th ATP Masters Series).

"Today was one of the best matches we played in a long time. I think the last time we played like that was against Mark Knowles in Basel in the fall, and it was 6-1, 6-1. Today was the same way," said Mike Bryan.

The Bryans, who never faced a break point, broke Knowles twice in the opening set — in the fourth and eighth games. In the second set, Bhupathi was broken twice, also in the fourth and eighth games.

... contd.

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