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The questions are still coming, and Nikolay Davydenko is still winning. The Russian, embroiled in a tennis betting scandal two years ago, reached the final of the ATP World Tour Finals on Saturday by defeating top-ranked Roger Federer 6-2, 4-6, 7-5. In August 2007, Davydenko withdrew because of an injury from a tournament in Poland while in the third set against 87th-ranked Martin Vassallo Arguello. An online betting company voided all bets on the match because of suspicious betting patterns. Although Davydenko has been cleared of any wrongdoing by the ATP, he spent the last two years answering questions about his integrity. "I'm really surprised how with this difficult time I made good result, because I really know it's staying always in your mind, and you stay under pressure from the press, from the fans, from the people everywhere in the world," Davydenko said. "And everywhere, if I coming for tournament, press start to asking me about betting." Davydenko reached the final at the season-ending tournament for the second straight year after losing to Novak Djokovic in 2008 in Shanghai. But he has not had an easy road to finishing in the top 10 for the fifth straight year. "Every tournament I played, it was very tough to play," Davydenko said. "I would like (to) stop tennis for couple months, don't want to play. But really, I don't know, maybe I have good coach, my family really support me, give me chance." It seemed to work at the U.S. Open in 2007, when Davydenko reached the semifinals before losing to eventual champion Federer. "Maybe my Russian mentality is very tough," he said. This year, he dropped out of the top five and is currently ranked No. 7. But he entered the ATP World Tour Finals as one of tennis' hottest players, winning the Shanghai Masters in October. In London, Davydenko lost to Djokovic in his opening Group B match, then beat Rafael Nadal and Robin Soderling to reach the semifinals and set up a match against the top-ranked Federer. Federer, who had beaten Davydenko in each of their previous 12 meetings, said he has always respected his rival. "I don't know if you guys have. I have," Federer said. "I think it's most important that he has respect from his fellow players. I think he didn't have the easiest of last few years, where people suspected him of doing bad things in the sport. He had a cloud over his name for quite some time, which was not very fair at the end now. "I think he handled it very well towards the end." Federer said he was impressed that Davydenko was able to play through all the rumors and still stay at the top of his game. "To be able to continue playing this well by being asked always the same stupid questions must not have been very easy for him," Federer said. "So I respect him not only for that, but obviously for the player he is. "He finally beat me today. I wish him all the best for the final."
