Davydenko Breezes to Hamburg Title

In honor of his 6-4, 6-2 win over Paul-Henri Mathieu in the ATP 500 Hamburg final, the tournament organizers gave Nikolay Davydenko a shiny metal fan.  Presumably so he could feel the wind blow through his hair.  And I mean the singular version of "hair" there.

It was Davydenko's first title of the year, and a good sign of him getting back on track after a difficult start to 2009 that saw him miss the Australian Open and Miami.  Miami especially was a tough tournament to miss, as Davydenko didn't get the chance to defend his 2008 title at the Masters event, the biggest title of his career to date.  This title is exactly the kind of title Davydenko eats up--one where he's the favorite in all of his matches during sort of a down time in the schedule.  Though Hamburg is now one of the much maligned post-Wimbledon clay events,

Though Davydenko isn't a fan favorite by any stretch, he's a pretty entertaining player to watch.  It was great seeing him chasing down balls and playing the trademark attacking ground game that got him to #3 in the world, four grand slam semifinals, and four consecutive year-end championships.

And during his acceptance speech, the world learned that aside from his many other skills, the Russian Davydenko speaks fluent German.  Who knew?