Sunday 2nd November 2008 :
David Nalbandian was made to battle before making it through to the final with a three-set victory on Saturday
Nalbandian, the reigning champion, was in remorseless mood early on in the first semi-final but had to hold off a stirring comeback from the gutsy Russian before eventually sealing a 6-1 5-7 6-4 win.
The Argentinian will meet either Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or James Blake in Sunday's final, knowing a win there will qualify him automatically for the season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai later this month.
Seeing the ball early and striking it so true, Nalbandian won 20 of the opening set's first 23 points on his way to snatching a double break and going 5-0 up inside just 15 minutes.
Davydenko finally stemmed the tide by holding a serve, but Nalbandian - bidding to become the first player to win back-to-back titles here - took the set by winning the next game after saving a couple of break points.
The pair traded breaks midway through the second set but even though the Russian was starting to make a fist of things, he was let down by a string of unforced errors, irritating not only himself but the near-capacity Centre Court crowd.
However, Nalbandian's level had by now dropped and, serving at 6-5 down, he lost four points on the trot to drop the set.
Davydenko was just about in the ascendancy and was holding serve with ease until the seventh game of the decider, when he threw in a couple of costly mistakes to gift Nalbandian the break.
Nalbandian, the eighth seed, then served out to clinch victory.
Tsonga, the 13th seed, meets 11th seed Blake later on Saturday.
The Argentinian will meet either Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or James Blake in Sunday's final, knowing a win there will qualify him automatically for the season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai later this month.
Seeing the ball early and striking it so true, Nalbandian won 20 of the opening set's first 23 points on his way to snatching a double break and going 5-0 up inside just 15 minutes.
Davydenko finally stemmed the tide by holding a serve, but Nalbandian - bidding to become the first player to win back-to-back titles here - took the set by winning the next game after saving a couple of break points.
The pair traded breaks midway through the second set but even though the Russian was starting to make a fist of things, he was let down by a string of unforced errors, irritating not only himself but the near-capacity Centre Court crowd.
However, Nalbandian's level had by now dropped and, serving at 6-5 down, he lost four points on the trot to drop the set.
Davydenko was just about in the ascendancy and was holding serve with ease until the seventh game of the decider, when he threw in a couple of costly mistakes to gift Nalbandian the break.
Nalbandian, the eighth seed, then served out to clinch victory.
Tsonga, the 13th seed, meets 11th seed Blake later on Saturday.
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