Who would’ve thought that after a fiercely contested Masters Cup, we would be left with two players who were perhaps not the most in-form players on tour. Djokovic and Davydenko qualified from the same group, but now are in the final for a rematch of their group encounter. On that day, Davydenko served Novak a bagel but Novak won it in 3 sets. But tomorrow, Davydenko will be ready to take the extra step to take the championship home.

Novak has struggled mightily in this tournament, and he almost lost it to Simon today. But he hung on to reach the final, having already lost a match to Tsonga. Davydenko, bounced back from his defeat by Djokovic to dominate Del Potro and Murray (Andy was the hottest player in the tournament but was simply outgunned by an in-form Kolya).

Verdict: Djokovic looked tired today, and Davydenko looked very confident. It should be Novak’s moment but it won’t be. Davydenko wins in 3 set. Probably 7-6 in the third.

The last tournament of the year is underway in Shanghai where 8 top player in the world minus Nadal go head to head for the last meaningful ATP title of the year. Djokovic was first up against Del Potro, and he finally managed to snap his three losing streak by beating Juan 7-5, 6-3.

Davydenko also took advantage of his first opportunity to beat Tsona 7-6 in the third and move to the top of the group. This group seems to be the easiest, as Djokovic is the only slam winner here.

Federer, Roddick, Murray, and Simon are pitted against each other in the other group, and every match will be important as two of the four try to qualify for the next rounds. I still believe Murray is the firm favorite here, but Federer and Djokovic are not that behind.

It turns out Davydenko was telling the truth after all. Well, not exactly. But ATP was not able to prove that Davydenko had bet on his own matches, so he has been cleared once and for all. Let’s hope Tennis is as clean as it seems to be. But the latest decision certainly doesn’t prove anything.

Nickolai Davydenko! He just utterly dominated Nadal to win it 6-4, 6-2 for the biggest title of his career. It was his first win against Nadal, but he just showed that the new racket is doing wonders for him. Congratulations to Nicki after such a tough year last year.

Nadal was on hot form today against an ill Berdych as he beat him in straight sets to reach to his first final of 2008. But more surprisingly Davydenko utterly outplayed Andy Roddick to win 7-6, 6-2, breaking Roddick 3 times to reach the final and record his first win against Roddick. Poor Roddick should be fuming right now as he had just beaten his nemesis in the last round in Roger Federere just to fall to someone he had never lost to.