Davydenko will meet Novak Djokovic, who earlier rallied to oust France’s Gilles Simon 4-6, 6-3, 7-5. In a round-robin match this week, Djokovic beat Davydenko in three sets.
Despite consistently being ranked in the top five, the 27-year-old Davydenko has never reached a Grand Slam final. His best performance in three previous appearances here had been a semifinal loss in 2005.
He was steady and relentless against Murray, who looked exhausted from his 3-hour victory over second-ranked Roger Federer on Friday night. Davydenko was fresher, having not played since Thursday, and he finished with 33 winners to just seven for Murray.
Murray said he had no reason to question his decision to go full out against Federer even though he already had clinched a semifinal spot.
“I beat probably the best player of all time,” he said. “I have no regrets about doing that. To beat him ... means a similar amount to winning a tournament like this.
Murray said he didn’t get to sleep until 2:30 a.m.
“Ideally I would have liked to have beaten him easier ... and given myself a slightly better chance to prepare for this match,” Murray said.
Davydenko said he owed thanks to Federer — and hopes Djokovic’s nearly 3-hour match against Simon will have the same effect in the final.
Murray and Davydenko stayed on serve in the first set until Murray served at 5-5. He went up 40-15, but swung his racket in anger between points as Davydenko pulled to deuce.
Murray thought he had an ace to save a break point, but it was overruled on a Davydenko challenge. Murray wasn’t convinced, walking toward the net for a closer look, then sent a backhand wide for the break.
Davydenko held to finish off the set with an ace and a backhand winner down the line. He then ran off the last five games of the second set as Murray looked increasingly dispirited, trudging around the court between points.
“I don’t want to try to make excuses,” Murray said. “He played much better than me. I did the best that I could with what I had.”
Djokovic struggled against Simon in the first set, committed 21 unforced errors. But the Serb pulled himself together, mixing up stinging groundstrokes with deft drop shots from behind the baseline.
Djokovic, who went 0-3 in his Masters Cup debut last year, got down on his knees and kissed the court after winning in 2 hours, 51 minutes.
“I didn’t have such a great time here last year,” Djokovic said. “Didn’t win a single set. But I learned something. Took the best out of it and used it this year.”
Simon dropped only six points in five service games in the first set. Djokovic made back-to-back mistakes to hand Simon the only break he needed.
In the second set, Djokovic picked up his game and started clipping the lines.
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