TENNIS in DEPTH.

Rafael Nadal lost 6-1 7-6 to Russian Nikolay Davydenko on Wednesday to become the first player to exit the ATP World Tour Finals.

After losing both of his Group B clashes in straight sets, the Spaniard has no chance of progressing any further in the elite eight-man event, even if he beats Novak Djokovic in his final round-robin match on Friday.

The Spaniard looked a shadow of the man who was rated as the world’s best player until four months ago and spent more time shaking his head in frustration than producing winners during a lopsided first set.

Davydenko hushed the 17,500 fans crammed into the O2 Arena by leaping to a 4-2 lead in the second set, and despite a spirited fightback from the Spaniard, the world number six secured the win with a blazing forehand winner. The second set tie breaker produced the best tennis of the tournament as the rallies were often more than 30 strokes in duration.

The 28-year-old Davydenko, who finished runner-up to Djokovic at the 2008 year-end championship in Shanghai, notched his first round-robin win of the week, having fallen to Djokovic on Monday. He will now face Soderling, who has a perfect 2-0 record, in his final Group B match on Friday.

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