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World number two
Roger Federer began his season in formidable fashion by defeating
holder Nikolay Davydenko 6-3 6-4 to win the Qatar Open Saturday.

The 16-times grand
slam champion proved too much for his Russian opponent, claiming a
break of serve in each set to complete victory under the floodlights at
the Khalifa Tennis Complex in central Doha.

Federer has
improved throughout his five matches this week in Qatar, where he did
not drop a set, and sealed victory in 79 minutes when Davydenko netted
an attempted backhand pass to huge cheers from a capacity crowd.

It was a 67th
career title for the 29-year-old, who hardly broke a sweat on another
warm evening in the tiny Gulf emirate and celebrated victory with a
brief smile amongst little celebration.

The Swiss served
impeccably throughout, dropping just nine points on his serve as he
demonstrated his solid form ahead of defending his title at the
Australian Open, which begins in Melbourne on January 17.

“I’m very happy to
kick-off the season today this way I think I played an amazing match,
it will give me a lot of confidence for the remainder of the season,”
said Federer, who will head to Australia for a week of practice.

Davydenko, who
brushed aside world number one Rafa Nadal in the previous round,
struggled on the back foot during the first set as Federer moved him
around the court at will with precision depth ground strokes.

The Russian, ranked
22 in the world after slipping from a career high third, battled hard
throughout, saving six break points in the first set and charging down
every ball but was always under pressure on his own serve.

“He played very well for sure, today was tough, he gave me ow chance on the return,” Davydenko told reporters.

“I don’t want to say I played badly today, I played okay but Federer
didn’t give me a chance to realize my game. I don’t know if he can hold
at this level for the whole year.” The second set was on serve until
the ninth game when Federer broke Davydenko to love before serving out
with ease to claim his third Qatar Open title and collect the trophy,
an elaborate golden eagle sat on a perch with a picture of the Qatari
Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani on the base.