By Patrick Vignal

Nikolay Davydenko destroyed Slovakia's Dominik Hrbaty 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 to take his first Masters Series title on Sunday. The fourth-seeded Russian needed just 98 minutes to tame a helpless Hrbaty.

Davydenko, who moves up two places to third in the ATP entry list, has now won five tournaments this year - the same as Rafael Nadal and James Blake. Only world number one Roger Federer, with 11, has claimed more.

"This is amazing," said Davydenko. "Winning a Masters Series for the first time is important and being number three in the world behind players such as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal is quite an achievement."

The 25-year-old Russian dropped just one set in the tournament. On the form he has displayed here all week, he has to be regarded as one of the favourites for the year-end Masters Cup featuring the world's top eight players, which starts next Sunday in Shanghai. "If he plays as well as he did here, he's going to give Federer a tough time," Hrbaty predicted.

Hrbaty, seeded 17th and appearing in a Masters Series final for the second time after finishing runner-up in Monte Carlo in 2000, was never in contention in a totally one-sided final. "I don't think I ever played anybody who played better than he did today," said Hrbaty. "I didn't have any chances."

Davydenko has a busy schedule ahead with not only the Masters Cup but also the Davis Cup final against Argentina in December. He also plans to get married before the end of the year.

The French Tennis Federation (FFT) asked on Saturday for urgent measures to protect the last regular men's event before the Masters Cup, which has been depleted for the last three years. The ATP plans to introduced a reformed calendar in 2009 and its chairman, Etienne De Villiers, said that bans should be considered to stop the top players from missing major tournaments with no good excuse. However, the FFT said it felt action should be taken sooner.