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| Perfect’ Djokovic to meet Monfils in final |
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Monday, November 16, 2009
‘PARIS: Serbian third seed Novak Djokovic will meet 15th-seeded home favourite Gael Monfils in the ATP Paris Masters final after both players came through their semifinal matches on Saturday.
In-form Djokovic, who won the Basel tournament last weekend, trounced an uncharacteristically subdued Rafael Nadal 6-2, 6-3, before Monfils delighted the Bercy arena crowd by beating Czech 13th seed Radek Stepanek 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.
“There’s not much to say about today’s performance, except that it was perfect,” said a beaming Djokovic.
“It went exactly the way I wanted. Tactically, I did everything I wanted to do before the match. I was very aggressive, took early control of the match and it paid off.
“Today was one of those days when you feel everything is going right, everything is working for you.”
Nadal refused to attribute his defeat to fatigue and was full of praise for Djokovic.
“He played very well, unbelievable in my opinion,” said the second seed.
“When Novak plays at that level it’s very difficult to play him, especially on a hard, fast court. I’ve never played against Djokovic when he’s been at this level before.”
Djokovic claimed the first break of serve for a 4-2 lead with an inch-perfect backhand winner down the line after an entertaining opening in which neither player was afraid to come to the net.
The 23-year-old world number three then secured the first set in Nadal’s next service game with a backhand return that let the Spaniard rooted to the spot.
Nadal had already proved his durability in the tournament by seeing off five match points in his second-round win over Nicolas Almagro and surviving another match point against 14th-seeded countryman Tommy Robredo in round three.
Djokovic, though, is on top of his game at the moment and he broke early in set two for a 2-0 lead with a punishing forehand winner.
Nadal, whose last title came in May when he beat Djokovic in the final of the Rome Masters, was struggling to contend with his opponent’s raking groundstrokes but managed to end a run of seven lost games by holding serve for 3-1.
It was to prove nothing more than a stay of execution, however, as Djokovic served out to reach his 10th final of 2009, sealing victory with his 31st winner of a surprisingly comfortable afternoon.
The second semi-final saw Stepanek break early for a 2-0 lead but Paris-born Monfils broke straight back when Stepanek clipped a drop-shot into the net, moving 3-2 ahead after the Czech sent a rushed backhand into the tramlines.
The Frenchman served out to take the opening set and the players exchanged early breaks in set two before Monfils broke again in game seven after Stepanek made errors with consecutive volleys.
Monfils served for the match at 5-4 but a succession of nervous shots allowed Stepanek to break and the 30-year-old took advantage of his adversary’s faltering confidence to win the set and level the match.
“I lost a bit of concentration,” Monfils told Canal Plus after the match.
“I was already thinking about tomorrow.”
Stepanek’s chip-and-charge tactics were clearly unsettling Monfils but after breaking for a 5-4 lead in the decider, the 15th seed held his nerve to reach his first ever Masters final when Stepanek put a return long.
“I felt good, I wasn’t worried,” added Monfils, who has not beaten Djokovic in three encounters.
“I found my range with my returns and I was getting better and better with my passing shots. I was just waiting for the right moment.”
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ISSN 1563-9479 
