Nikolay Davydenko delivered a blow to the injury comeback hopes of top seed Rafael Nadal with a 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 victory Sunday in the final of the Shanghai Masters.
Davydenko added Nadal to a Shanghai victim’s list which included second seed Novak Djokovic in the semifinals.
The Russian, chasing one of three spots in next month’s ATP season wrap-up event in London, won his fourth title of the season, all coming since July.
Davydenko leaves Asia for the Kremlin Cup next week with two trophies after winning Kuala Lumpur in September.
The win denied Nadal his first success since Rome in late April and kept the world number two on five titles in 2009.
“He played better than me today,” said Nadal. “But that’s tennis. I will certainly be back next year to try and win here.” The Spaniard was playing only his second event since returning after a month away with an abdominal strain.
