By Bill Scott Nov 9, 2009, 14:28 GMT
Paris - Novak Djokovic brings the rare confidence of a man who beat Roger Federer in his own backyard into the Paris Masters, the final ATP regular season showdown of the season.
Djokovic ended Federer's winning run in at the Swiss Indoors on Sunday, denying the Swiss a fourth straight title at the Basle event.
'It feels great to beat the number one,' said the 22-year-old Serb. 'I'm extremely happy with how I approached the match and my strategy.'
Djokovic said that despite criticism that his 2009 has not been the smash hit that his 2008 was, he is not alarmed at all.
'Some say I've not played as good in 2009 as I did last year,' said the 2008 Australian Open champion.
'I've not won a Grand Slam or a Masters 1000 but I've been very consistent.
'There have been some changes in my team and my racket and maybe I've taken my mind off the court a bit. But I'm back now, with good rhythm and concentration.'
In Monday's opening round, the first of the record 13 Frenchmen in the field took a loss.
Czech Tomas Berdych accounted for qualifier Vincent Millot 6-3, 7-6 (7-4).
Two Germans lost as Pole Lukasz Kubot overcame Andreas Beck 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 and Italy's Andreas Seppi upset Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 6-3.
Croatian Ivo Karlovic raced into the second round over Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4.
After the career retirement of French hero Fabrice Santoro in Sunday's opening day when he lost to James Blake, it could be the turn of Marat Safin to bid farewell to the game.
The former number one who is planning to retire after this tournament, takes on French qualifier Thierry Ascione.
He is reportedly due to receive the keys to the city after his last match in Paris after winning the title in 2000, 2002, and 2004.
Paris is the scene for final qualification for the season-ending World Tour Finals, with seven men chasing the last two spots in the eight-man field.
Holding on to the final two spots are number seven Nikolay Davydenko and number eight Fernando Verdasco, who has a 380-point lead over number nine Robin Soderling.
The 48-player draw features 17 of the Top 20 players, including nine of the Top 10. The exception is number six Andy Roddick, still out with an ankle injury he suffered a month ago in Shanghai but already qualified for the London year-end championships. dpa bs jb
Sent via WebAccess by Scott MEZ 09-11-2009_16:15
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