Tennis: Djokovic to meet Monfils in Paris final
PARIS: Novak Djokovic advanced to the men''s final of the Paris Masters tennis tournament with a straight set win over Rafael Nadal on Saturday.
Djokovic beat the Spaniard 6-2, 6-3. While the Serb is only 6-14 lifetime against Nadal, the 22-year-old has now won their last two meetings.
"I felt so good on the court that all the shots I hit transformed into winners," Djokovic said. "It was perfect, exactly the way I wanted."
Djokovic, the third seed at the event, is heading into the ATP championship finals in London on a roll. He defeated Roger Federer last week to win the tour event in Basel, Switzerland.
Second seed Nadal hasn''t won an event since the Rome Masters in May. The Spaniard has battled a knee injury and, more recently, a pulled stomach muscle.
The six-time Grand Slam champion at one point Saturday lost 14 consecutive points on his serve.
He entered the semis fresh off a victory over defending tournament champ Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France.
"I finished this tournament much better than I started," Nadal said. "The confidence will not go away because I lost 6-2, 6-3 to Djokovic."
Djokovic will face France''s Gael Monfils in the final.
Monfils outlasted Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic for a 6-4 5-7 6-4 victory.
Neither Djokovic or Monfils has won the event before.
Barring any pullouts, the eight-man field for the ATP finals, which begin Nov. 22 in London, will include Nadal, Djokovic, Federer, Juan Martin del Potro, Fernando Verdasco, Nikolay Davydenko, Andy Murray and Andy Roddick.