体坛英语新闻：Davydenko beats Nadal to reach Qatar Open final

DOHA, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- Defending champion Nikolay Davydenko of Russia beat Rafael Nadal of Spain 6-3, 6-2 for the final at the Qatar Open on Friday.

Two-time champion Roger Federer of Switzerland reached the final by beating third-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France 6-3, 7-6(2) earlier Friday.

Davydenko, 29, beat Federer in the Qatar semifinals last year before going on to win the trophy in the final against Nadal.

Davydenko, seeded fourth at the event, needed only 84 minutes to beat an uncharacteristically slow and sluggish Nadal, who had a fever earlier this week.

The Russian now leads the Spaniard 6-4 in head-to-head meetings on the ATP tour. He will look to add to his 20 career titles when he takes on second-ranked Federer in the final on Saturday.

"I have surprised myself by reaching the final," Davydenko said. "I did not expect to do this well. I am happy with my tennis but I can improve (my) fitness."

Davydenko said playing against Federer will be tough.

"I saw him playing today. It looked as if he didn't want to run and kept going for winners. Obviously, he is playing great. It will be tough. Everyday is a different day and let's see how I wake up tomorrow."