FanHouse Novak Djokovic

LONDON (AP) -- Roger Federer overcame an erratic forehand and Fernando Verdasco on Sunday, rallying to beat his Spanish opponent 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 in the round-robin stage of the ATP World Tour Finals.

The top-ranked Federer was broken only once -- in the opening game of the Group A match after double-faulting on the first point -- but he never looked dominating until late in the second set when he converted his first break point to even the score at one set apiece.

In the third set at the O2 Arena, Federer was back to his old self. He controlled play as usual, and gave Verdasco little chance to stay in the match.

"I was down a set, and only the second set was I able to sort of get the ball into play, find my range, find my rhythm," Federer said. "This is also when I started to feel like I had chances.

PARIS (AP) -- Third-seeded Novak Djokovic scrambled to a 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (3) victory over local favorite Gael Monfils on Sunday to win the Paris Masters for the first time.

The victory gave Djokovic back-to-back ATP Tour titles after his win over top-ranked Roger Federer in the Swiss Indoors final last Sunday.

The third-ranked Djokovic also beat World No. 2 Rafael Nadal in the semifinals in Paris and will be a strong favorite when he'll try to defend his title at the eight-man ATP World Tour Finals from Nov. 22-29 in London.

PARIS (AP) -- Novak Djokovic overpowered Rafael Nadal 6-2, 6-3 Saturday to reach the Paris Masters final for the first time.

The Serb will face Gael Monfils of France on Sunday. He advanced to the final with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 win over Radek Stepanek.

Djokovic is 3-0 overall against Monfils.

"He is one of the players who is very unpredictable," Djokovic said. "He can play really, really fast. And with a big serve, he can do a lot of damage to opponents."

Five days and eight injury retirements later, the Shanghai Masters semifinals are set.

In the last quarterfinals match on Friday, Ivan Ljubicic pulled out of his match against Rafael Nadal in the third set with noticeable pain in his left thigh. He joined an absurdly long list of players to withdraw due to injury in Shanghai, including reigning U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro and world No. 6 Andy Roddick.

Ljubicic withdrew in the first game of the third set and handed Nadal a spot in the semifinals where he will take on fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, who topped the No. 9-seeded Robin Soderling in straight sets on Thursday.

BEIJING (AP) -- Novak Djokovic won the China Open with a 6-2, 7-6 (4) victory over Croatia's Marin Cilic, and Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia defeated Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-2, 6-4 in the women's final on Sunday.

The second-seeded Serb broke Cilic's serve in the sixth game and again in the eighth to take the first set following a 90-minute rain delay.

The second set was much tighter, with each breaking the other's serve three times to force the tiebreak. But Cilic then struggled, and his return at 6-4 went wide, handing Djokovic the win.

BEIJING (AP) -- Rafael Nadal lost in the semifinals of the China Open on Saturday, falling 6-1, 6-3 to Marin Cilic.

The eighth-seeded Croat cruised past the Spaniard, setting up a final against Serbia's Novak Djokovic, who beat Sweden's Robin Soderling 6-3, 6-3.

In the women's draw, Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated Russian compatriot Nadia Petrova, 6-1, 6-3, to move into the final against 12th seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, who downed France's Marion Bartoli, 6-4, 6-3.

Cilic broke Nadal's serve twice in the first set, racing to a 5-0 lead as the world's second-ranked player struggled against the 21-year-old's booming serve and aggressive returns. Cilic racked up six aces in the first set, with a first-serve percentage of 83.

BEIJING (AP) -- Rafael Nadal moved into the semifinals of the China Open on Friday by defeating Marat Safin 6-3, 6-1.

Nadal outplayed the former top-ranked Russian from the start and remains on track to meet Novak Djokovic in the finals Sunday. Djokovic defeated Fernando Verdasco of Spain 6-3, 1-6, 6-1.

"I think I played a really good match," Nadal said. "I'm happy about my level."

Safin plans to retire at the end of this season, and thanked the fans for their support.

GENEVA (AP) -- Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal could face each other in the first round of next year's Davis Cup after Spain drew Switzerland on Wednesday.

Federer and Nadal, the top two players, have never met in the Davis Cup.

"We have to accept how the draw is. We'll try to beat them in Spain," Switzerland captain Severin Luthi said. "For sure that's one of the toughest draws we can have."

Call 2009 the year of the fallen giant. A month after friend Tiger Woods lost a 54-hole lead in a major championship for the first time in his career, Roger Federer lost in a Grand Slam final by a guy not named Rafael Nadal.

Juan Martin del Potro did the unthinkable on Monday at the U.S. Open, defeating the 15-time Grand Slam champion after losing the first set to Federer in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Del Potro took the match in five sets, winning 3-6, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6, 6-2 for his first Grand Slam title.

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The between-the-legs shot in tennis is similar to the flop shot in golf. Yeah, it's fun to watch, but there is a small percentage of something positive actually coming out of it. Well, unless you're Roger Federer.

In the semifinals against Novak Djokovic, Federer was up 15-30 in the final game of the third set, hoping to break Novak to cruise to a three-set win and a spot in a Grand Slam final for the 17th time in the last 18 majors. Novak hit a drop shot, Federer ran in, and after getting it back over the net, Djokovic went for the lob. Federer ran it down, hitting a between the legs winner he called his best shot ever.

Video is after the jump ...