FanHouse Rafael Nadal

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."

The head of the World Anti-Doping Agency acknowledged that it's too late to punish Andre Agassi for his failed drug test from 1997, darned statute of limitations. But WADA said it still wants some punishment, anyway. Maybe for Agassi's lies to doping officials, which he admits in his book? Maybe for perjury?

Doubtful. But I knew tennis would get its pound of flesh, anyway, as Agassi has embarrassed the sport's governing bodies. What I didn't know was how fast they would get that flesh.

Or that they would take it from Yanina Wickmayer.

She was banned Thursday for a year for a doping offense. It wasn't for failing a test, or apparently even for missing one, though details still aren't out. It was because she failed to report three times to doping officials over the past 18 months where she would be.

Three weeks. That's all Andy Roddick is expected to miss with the knee injury that knocked him out of the Shanghai Masters last week in the middle of his first-round match.

It should still give him time to qualify for the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London in November.

"Results of the MRI [scan] showed a mild sprain of his medial collateral ligament of the left knee," said a statement on Roddick's website. "The news was very good for Andy. No surgery will be needed and Andy is expected to make a 100 percent recovery."

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.

On Monday, Andy Roddick spoke out against the ATP for the lack of a normal tennis offseason. On Tuesday, he retired from the Shanghai Masters with knee pains.

Fast-forward to Thursday, the injury count at Shanghai has grown to seven after just four days of play. The latest additions are Gael Monfils of France and Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, who retired from their matches earlier today.

The Shanghai injury list includes reigning U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro, Tommy Haas, Jose Acasuso and Mischa Zverev. Not included are Roger Federer (fatigue) and Andy Murray (wrist), who opted out of the tournament before it began to recuperate.

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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.

BEIJING (AP) -- Serena Williams was knocked out of the China Open on Thursday, losing to Nadia Petrova of Russia 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (5) only days before regaining the No. 1 ranking.

Williams, who will take over the top spot in the rankings from Dinara Safina on Monday, looked sluggish in the first set before recovering in the second. Neither player was able to earn a break in the third set.

"I don't feel like I ever got into high gear," Williams said. "I ran into a girl today who has never played so good in her life."