5 in the world) in the semifinals. He then took on Richard Gasquet, the world number 10, in the final, eventually losing in 3 sets (3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3). He would later appear at the French Open, reaching the third round before being knocked out by Gasquet in straight sets (4-6, 4-6, 3-6) He ended the year in rank No. 53. 2014: Retirement In the 2014 season, Davydenko failed to win consecutively. He lost to Daniel Brands in the first round of the Qatar Open. He was beaten by Richard Gasquet in the second round of the Australian Open. In Montpellier, Davydenko defeated world no.39 Julien Benneteau but was stunned by world no. 248 Albano Olivetti. In 2014 Open 13 second round, he was beaten by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. At the 2014 Indian Wells Masters, he reached the second round losing to John Isner. In the 2014 Sony Open Tennis first round, he was defeated by Adrian Mannarino. Davydenko began his clay court season with a first round loss to Albert Ramos Viñolas at the Barcelona Open. At BMW Open, he was defeated by Federico Delbonis. He won his first clay court match of the season at the Düsseldorf Open by defeating Dudi Sela before losing to Jiri Vesely second round. After losing the first round of the 2014 French Open, he skipped the grass court season to decide whether he would retire or not. Sources close to the Russian Davis Cup team and tennis federation said that Davydenko had decided to retire and that he would be honoured with a farewell ceremony at that year's Kremlin Cup. On October 16, Davydenko confirmed these rumors by announcing his retirement at a press conference in Moscow. Playing style Davydenko employed an offensive baseline game, using deep and penetrating groundstrokes on both wings. His groundstrokes were technically efficient on both forehand and backhand. His tremendous footspeed and anticipation enabled him to hit the ball early which caught opponents out of position and allowed him to dictate the play, somewhat similar to former world no. 1 Andre Agassi. Davydenko's best shot was his backhand, which he could hit down the line, cross court, or with extreme angles. He was known for his running shots which he took early and often turned into winners. His serve was technically correct and very consistent, even though it lacked the fire-power to become a serious weapon. Davydenko's style