Weary-looking World No 1 Rafael Nadal was knocked out of the Qatar Open yesterday losing 6-3, 6-2 to defending champion Nikolay Davydenko, who will tackle Roger Federer in Saturday's final.


Rafael Nadal

Nadal had been struggling with a fever all week in Doha and needed courtside treatment yesterday as he slipped to a 5-0 deficit in the second set.

The Spaniard, who has been suffering from a fever all week, was pale, slow, and sweating profusely, and unable to impose the heavy physical game with which he batters and bombards most of his opponents into submission. His expression became increasingly perplexed as Davydenko stepped in and launched comfortable winner after winner, but it was not until Nadal was 2-0 down in the second set that he appeared to reach a similar conclusion himself.

"I don't have anything. I don't have my game. I feel much more tired than usual," he said after calling the doctor to the courtside. The reply came: "For now we can do nothing." He clearly had not expected to feel as bad he did after battling through three matches with relative success while taking anti-biotics.

Federer in final Federer, a former double champion here, made the final by easing past France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3, 7-6 (7/2). Federer, moving into a high gear for the first time in 2011, reached his seventh final in nine tournaments with his win over Tsonga.