SHANGHAI, (Reuters) – It was fitting that Nikolay Davydenko should get his biggest win of the year yesterday at a  Shanghai Masters tournament dominated by injury retirements and  a debate over the length of the season.

The 28-year-old Russian, who beat Spanish world number two  Rafa Nadal 7-6 6-3 in the final, has long had a reputation as  one of the hardest working players in the game.

Andy Roddick, who said Monnday that the careers of top  players could be shortened if the season was not reduced in  length, was one of nine players who subsequently failed to  complete their matches at the tournament.

“It’s good for me if everybody gets injured at the end of  the year, because I didn’t play the first three months of the  year and everybody played already,” said Davydenko, who now has  a good shot at making the World Tour finals in London next  month.

“Maybe I have more chance coming to London. Maybe everybody  will retire in London and I can win London,” he joked.

Whippet-thin with a bald pate and an unflamboyant style of play,  the 28-year-old baseliner is under no illusion that he is one of  the sport’s stars.

“I want to finish top 10 in this year, just this thing, for  me, it’s important. Everything else is not so important,” said  the current number eight.

“I don’t want to have more fans. Okay, more money is always  good. But I’m not the sort of person who wants to be famous.

“Nobody expects me to win a tournament. And so I have no  pressure. If I win, it’s good. If I lose, also it’s okay. I just  play and I do my job.”

He is no journeyman either, racking up more than $10 million  in prize money in a decade on the tour and finishing in the top  five at the end of each season since 2004.