Davydenko notches Masters semifinal spot

SHANGHAI, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- Nikolay Davydenko was a straight-set winner Thursday and earned a semifinals berth in the ATP's Tennis Masters Cup tournament in Shanghai.

Davydenko, the tournament's No. 4 seed, topped Juan Martin del Potro 6-3, 6-2 in a dominant performance in the final round-robin match for the Gold Group. That improved Davydenko to 2-1 in the tournament. Del Potro finished with a 1-2 record.

Davydenko was just 53 percent on his first serve but was solid enough to win 74 percent of his total service points and 51 percent of the points on del Potro's serve.

He joins second-seeded Novak Djokovic in Saturday's Masters Cup semifinals. Djokovic, also 2-1 in round-round play, had wrapped up his semifinal position before he dropped a 1-6, 7-5, 6-1 decision to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Thursday. Djokovic breezed through the first set before Tsonga rallied for his first win in the tournament.

Red Group round-robin play concludes Friday. Third-seeded Andy Murray (2-0) is paired against top-seeded Roger Federer (1-1). Federer, who has won the tournament four of the last five years, must beat Murray to advance to the semifinals. Murray has locked up a semifinals berth.

The first Red Group match Friday pits Radek Stepanek, filling in for the injured Andy Roddick, against Gilles Simon.