PARIS SEMIS

Nikolay Davydenko (No6) – David Nalbandian (No8)

24 hours ago, few would have been expecting this particular semi-final line-up. The great shame of the quarter-finals however is that we did not get to see Nikolay Davydenko do battle with a fully fit Rafael Nadal. The 2006 BNP Paribas Masters winner has been getting better and better as the tournament wears on and is very much the pleasant surprise of the tournament after a run of poor results this autumn.

The match will be a battle between a model of consistency and a flawed genius. Davydenko is solid as a rock when he’s in a rhythm, while David Nalbandian is the kind of person who can beat anyone on the world on his day with his variations of pace and length. The No8 seed took out the form player of the tour Andy Murray in the quarter-finals, and with a Davis Cup final to look forward to next month, Nalbandian seems to have got his appetite for tennis back. Particularly since he is now only four sets away from becoming the first holder to retain his title at Bercy, and also qualify for the Masters Cup while he is about it.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (No13) – James Blake (No11)

Whatever happens, Tsonga has won the hearts of the Parisian crowd already with his incredible three-set wins over Novak Djokovic and Andy Roddick on consecutive days. The crowd will be looking forward to another show in Saturday’s second semi-final and will be right behind the spectacular and charismatic 23-year-old. His three-hour epic against Roddick will no doubt have taken its toll on him, while his opponent has enjoyed a day off.

James Blake has had a far easier passage through to the semis, with Roger Federer pulling out just before their quarter-final clash. The New Yorker struggled to get past Italian youngster Simone Bolelli in the second round, but he now finds himself a mere two sets away from a Masters Cup berth – surely motivation enough for the 28-year-old who finished runner-up in the season-ending competition two years ago.

Tsonga is also still in the running for Shanghai – a final berth will suffice if Davydenko wins, but should Nalbandian get through, then Jo-Wil will face another winner-takes-all shoot-out. And the way he is playing at the moment, anything is possible.

NADAL'S KNEES AND ROGER'S BACK

Rafael Nadal retired with a knee injury after losing the first set 6-1 against Nikolay Davydenko in the Paris Masters quarterfinals Friday, just hours after Roger Federer pulled out of the tournament with a sore back.

Nadal had received a lengthy massage treatment on his right thigh at 4-1 down to try and loosen the muscles around his right knee but was unable to start the second set.

"When I push with the right leg all the time the knee wasn't there, the knee is going down," Nadal said. "I felt a sharp, acute pain."

The Spaniard felt nagging knee pains earlier this week, and it got worse Friday morning.

"Today when I woke up I felt it a lot. I try to practice but still feel it," Nadal said. "Later I went the doctor and the doctor gave me some anti-inflammatories."

Nadal said he has never had a similar injury and that he needs further tests before he decides whether to play the season-ending Masters Cup, which begins Nov. 9 in Shanghai.

"We are going to have the tests and everything," Nadal said. "Hopefully it's going to be fine for Shanghai, but you never know."

Federer, meanwhile, pulled out shortly before his quarterfinal against James Blake because of a stiff back, but said he didn't have a serious injury.

AP

NALBANDIAN BEATS MURRY

Fourth-seeded Argentine David Nalbandian (pictured) maintained his chances of clinching a spot at Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai by reaching the BNP Paribas Masters semifinals on Friday. The defending champion snapped the 14-match winning streak of fourth seed Andy Murray with a 7-6(3), 6-3 win in one hour and 44 minutes for a place in the semifinals.

The 26-year-old Cordoba resident must clinch his 10th career ATP title to be guaranteed of qualification for the prestigious circuit finale to be held at the Qi Zhong Stadium in Shanghai from November 9-16. With 320 points in the ATP 2008 Race, he stands 36 points behind No. 8-placed Gilles Simon of France who made a third round exit (l. to Roddick) on Thursday.

FED BACKS OFF

Roger Federer pulled out of the Paris Masters with a back injury just before his quarter-final against American James Blake on Friday.

"My back has been stiff for the last couple of days and I woke up this morning and it did not respond to the treatment I had last night."

Federer's withdrawal means the Swiss has failed to win a regular Masters Series event this year for the first time since 2003.

Federer is next scheduled to play in the season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai, which starts on November 9.

ARRIVING IN SHANGHAI VIA PARIS

MASTERS CUP : RODDICK THROUGH

With his win over Gilles Simon and Juan Martin del Potro's loss to David Nalbandian, Andy Roddick has secured his berth at the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai in 10 days time. Del Potro and Simon are still seventh and eighth, and will qualify unless Blake or Tsonga make the final here or Nalbandian, Verdasco or Monfils win the tournament.

No. 13 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga recorded his second successive victory in three meetings over No. 3 seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 win in one hour and 54 minutes. Tsonga, who captured his first ATP title over Djokovic in Bangkok last month, is 41 points behind No. 8-placed Simon in the ATP 2008 Race.

THURSDAY IN PARIS

ONLY CHALLENGE "OUT" CALLS

Two tennis players are locked in a furious baseline exchange. Eventually, a line judge calls the ball "out." Should the player who lost the point protest the ruling?

Yes, a new study suggests. Researchers say professional tennis players could increase their chances of having a ruling reversed in their favor by an instant replay review if they challenge "out" calls more than "in" calls.

A study of 57 randomly selected matches during the 2007 Wimbledon tournament found that officials were more likely to err by calling a shot "out" than "in." It's not a matter of bad refereeing, scientists say, but rather, it has to do with a bias in the way humans perceive moving objects.

"When a ball is called 'in,' a player should usually not challenge the call, even when she believes it to be an incorrect call," psychologist David Whitney of the University of California, Davis wrote in the study. "Players should concentrate their challenges on balls that are called 'out."'

In the study, three scientists independently reviewed TV footage of 4,457 points from Wimbledon in 2007. Calls were spot on most of the time. Of the 83 wrong rulings, researchers found, 70 -- or 84 percent -- were instances of a shot landing in but being called "out." Only in 13 cases was a ball that landed out ruled "in."

Researchers attributed the errors to perceptual bias in which a moving target appears to be farther along its path than it really is -- a bias phenomenon also seen in the general population.

AP

PARIS WILL DECIDE 3 SPOTS IN SHANGHAI

Three spots in the season-ending Masters Cup are up for grabs.

Andy Roddick, Juan Martin del Potro and Gilles Simon hope to earn enough points to hold their rankings in the top eight and reach the prestigious year-end championship in Shanghai.

But David Ferrer is just behind Simon, with James Blake, Stanislas Wawrinka and Australian Open finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga all hoping a good showing at Paris will help them qualify.

Robredo beat Jeremy Chardy 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5) and Tursunov defeated Adrian Mannarino 6-3, 6-2. Robredo saved the only break point he faced in the first set, while Tursunov broke Mannarino's serve five times.

Tursunov next plays third-seeded Novak Djokovic, while Robredo faces No. 15 Fernando Verdasco.

Roddick dented his chances of reaching Shanghai after losing to Robin Soderling in the quarterfinals of the Lyon Grand Prix on Friday. Simon picked up points there by reaching the semis, and Roddick could play Simon in the third round in Paris.

Top-ranked Rafael Nadal, 13-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer, Djokovic, Andy Murray and Nikolay Davydenko have already clinched their spots for Shanghai, but Davydenko is the only one among them to have won the Paris tournament, in 2006.

AP

ATP

GETTING SERIOUS

Roger Federer will cut exhibition matches from his 2009 schedule as he pursues Pete Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slam singles titles, his agent said Sunday. Federer and Sampras played three exhibition matches across Asia last November and again in New York City last March. Such commitments won't be repeated in 2009.

AP

FED WINS BASEL

Roger Federer won his hometown tournament for the third straight year on Sunday, beating second-seeded David Nalbandian of Argentina 6-3, 6-4 in the Swiss Indoors final.

The top-seeded Federer hit eight aces and conceded just seven points on his serve all match.

"I'm very happy, everything worked as planned," Federer said. "It was a match played at a high level."

It was Federer's fourth title of the season after victories at the U.S. Open, in Estoril, Portugal; and Halle, Germany. He is 4-4 in finals this season and 57-21 overall.

Federer improved to 10-8 against the 26-year-old Nalbandian, who won in Basel in 2002 and is a three-time runner-up.

PARIS ON TSN

DOKIC COMEBACK?

Jelena Dokic was ranked as high as four in the world, but a split from her family - specifically her over-bearing father Damir - led to her career slipping into free fall. She has since made half-hearted attempts and short-lived attempts to come back, but they’ve always come to nothing. Until now.

Very quietly, with minimum fuss or publicity, the 25-year old has been going about her business this year. It’s meant starting again right at the bottom, with no ranking and playing $25,000 events instead of the Centre Court at Wimbledon, but her effort and perseverance have paid off.

She has won 35 matches and three small tournaments, and now that she has a ranking of 187 that is enough to get her into the qualifying rounds of the Australian Open. She’s also eyeing Auckland or Brisbane, and Hobart.

"It’s been good," she said of her 2008 season. "I’ve won a lot of matches this year and gone a couple of steps forward, which is the main thing. I just need to continue working hard and playing as many matches as I can get and just continue to be there when things don’t go well.

NALBANDIAN - FED IN BASEL FINAL

Top-seeded Roger Federer defeated Feliciano Lopez of Spain 6-3, 6-2 Saturday to reach the final of the Swiss Indoors.

Roger Federer stands to face a more formidable challenge from David Nalbandian in order to win a third straight Swiss Indoors title.

Federer will seek a third straight Swiss Indoors title Sunday against 2002 champion David Nalbandian of Argentina.

Federer was never in trouble against the 39th-ranked Lopez, winning in 61 minutes.

The second-seeded Nalbandian defeated Davis Cup teammate Juan Martin del Potro 6-4, 6-4 in the other semifinal.

AP

LUZZI DIES AT 28

Federico Luzzi, a former top-100 tennis player, has died of leukemia. He was 28.

Luzzi died at a hospital in Arezzo, the Italian Tennis Federation said Saturday. He had been there for a few days after retiring last weekend from an Italian league match citing a high fever.

Luzzi reached a career-high ranking of No. 92 in 2002 before a shoulder injury that affected him the rest of his career.

He had a 2-2 record with Italy’s Davis Cup team. In 2001, Luzzi beat Ville Liukko of Finland 14-12 in the fifth set after 4 hours, 35 minutes—the longest Davis Cup match ever played by an Italian.

In February, Luzzi was suspended for 200 days and fined $50,000 by the ATP for betting on tennis.

Luzzi is survived by his parents, Paola and Maurizio, and his sister, Francesca.

AP

ABU DHABI

Negotiations are understood to be at an advanced stage between prominent events organisers in Abu Dhabi and the world’s top-six men’s players to bring a three-day, unsanctioned tournament to the capital to kick off the sporting new year.

The plan is to secure contracts for that six to compete in Abu Dhabi just before the 2009 Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) season opens in neighbouring Qatar on Jan 5.

Others on the Abu Dhabi list are the world No 1 Rafael Nadal, the Spaniard who earlier this year swapped places with Switzerland’s Roger Federer, a man who has a residence in Dubai and has won the popular tournament at the Aviation Club there on four occasions, Novak Djokovic, the outstanding young Serb, Spain’s David Ferrer and Nikolay Davydenko, of Russia.

The unsanctioned showpiece involving the world’s top six would undoubtedly assist in any future initiative to present an official men’s draw of 32 players.

HOLIDAY IN DUBAI

Jesse Levine of Boca Raton, Fl., ranked No. 99 and just six days past his 21st birthday, has been invited for a second extended practice session with Federer.

The former University of Florida star had been invited a year and a half ago to work two weeks with Federer during the middle of summer. This time the weather will be cooler and, since Levine is no longer an NCAA player, he won't have to worry about taking a free first-class plane ticket to Dubai or staying in a five-star hotel at Federer's expense.

Levine is only 8-17 this season, but he's used the Challengers and a few key regular ATP wins to reach at career best No. 95 in September. Since the U.S. Open, he's gone three sets with both David Ferrer and Sam Querrey, but lost each time.

Federer likes the energy Levine brings to his practice sessions and also possibly the fact that he's left-handed, like his No. 1 rival, top-ranked Rafael Nadal.

YEAR END TOURNAMENTS

PILGRIM'S PROGRESS

After Andy Murray overcame Roger Federer in the semifinals of the Madrid Masters, the talk amongst the British press was not how the 21-year-old Scot had already surpassed Tim Henman in stature, but that he has now clearly upped his level to the point where he might equal Fred Perry, the last British male to win a Grand Slam title some 73 long years ago.

Murray then backed up that accolade in the final, dismissing the steady game of Gilles Simon 6-4, 7-6 (6) after the rising Frenchman had upset world No. 1 Rafael Nadal in the other semifinal.

The irascible Scot was brilliant most of the week, combing his usual sleight-of-hand tactics from the baseline with blowtorch serves and deep returns. He's always been a scrappy, confident sort, but physically, it has taken the gangly Murray a few years to grow into his body. He's added a lot of muscle to his thin frame and is happy to show it off, taking to flexing his biceps after wins.

But it takes more than just increased muscle to be able to best the likes of the world's top 3. It takes guile and technical proficiency. Murray now has a fair amount of both, and in the past three months, has scored a win over Djokovic in the Cincinnati final (his first Masters Series shield), hit through Nadal in the U.S. Open semis and then last weekend, avenged his tired-looking loss to Federer in the U.S. Open final by adeptly taking care of the big points.

"I always knew from the first moment I saw him in Bangkok (in 2005) that if he didn't screw it up, he'd be top 10 pretty soon," said Federer. "He's improved at his own pace. First he had to grow up a little bit, become a man; he's taken that step well and he seems much more relaxed on the court."

Murray is very much a perfectionist on court, a quality he shares with many other top players, but the three other elite players do not curse themselves at the top of their lungs when they miss an easy shot. They try not to show their vulnerability to their opponents. Murray has shown his dark side way too often in the past three years, but is learning that keeping his chin up and his temper at a medium boil — like Federer was talking about — is more beneficial. Former racket-tosser Federer learned that lesson himself.

"I didn't see Roger play a whole lot as a junior when he was coming up, when he was 18-19 and I heard that he was pretty temperamental," Murray said. "I'm not comparing myself to him and anything that he has achieved, but the way that we play the game is a little bit easier than how some of the players make it look. It's nice to see someone who was similar at the start of their career.

Being recognized for legitimate wins over Federer is not easy to do, but Murray's third win in Madrid was completely above board, as Federer came into the tournament healthy [Right! Federer still has mono.] and well rested. Two years ago when he scored his first upset of Federer In Cincinnati, the Swiss was tapped after having won Canada the week prior. Earlier this year in Dubai when Murray scored win No. 2, Federer was still suffering the after-effects of mononucleosis. But in Spain, there were no excuses on either side and the British No. 1 didn't allow the Swiss to attack his second serve or expose his forehand on the run. Amazingly, the teenager who used to kick in first serves consistently hit big-boy territory, nailing 14 aces, with two struck at 141 miles per hour.

Murray is already assured of his place at the year-end Tennis Masters Cup. With his title run in Madrid, he became the first British player in the Open Era to win four titles in a season.

He is still Slam-less, but has played better than Djokovic and Nadal (who with Federer's loss clinched the year-end top spot) since Wimbledon and now heads into the home stretch of the season with a chance to send up a couple of more warning shots to the other primetime Grand Slam contenders that he could be ready to make serious noise at the Australian Open in January.

SCRAMBLING FOR SHANGHAI

MURRY WINS MADRID

Fourth-ranked Andy Murray beat Gilles Simon of France 6-4, 7-6 (6) Sunday to win the Madrid Masters.

The U.S. Open finalist became the first Briton to win four titles in a season. He will be the first Briton in the Open era since Fred Perry in 1936 to finish the year at No. 4 after winning four titles and playing in a Grand Slam final.

Greg Rusedski and Tim Henman both reached No. 4 but never finished the year there and never won four titles and played in a Grand Slam final in one season.

Murray won in Doha, Marseille and Cincinnati. Mark Cox of Britain captured three titles in 1975.