Paris: Serbia's Novak Djokovic came from a set down to defeat Roger Federer 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 Saturday and advance to the Paris Masters final for the second time.
The world No. 2, who won this indoor hard-court event in 2009, will take on the winner of an all-Spanish battle between world No. 1 Rafael Nadal and world No. 4 David Ferrer in the final.
Federer came out strong Saturday afternoon at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy, using his variety of shot, precise serves and forehands and well-timed net approaches to take the first set and grab an early service break in the second set.
The match was all downhill from there, however, for the Swiss, who was unable to match Djokovic's consistency in the baseline rallies.
The Serb patiently waited for his chances and they started to come in rapid succession starting early in the second set.
After getting the break back in the second game, Djokovic grabbed another one in the sixth game en route to capturing the second set.
Federer's flashes of brilliance became less and less frequent as the match wore on, and Djokovic rolled to a routine 6-2 victory in the third set.
The Swiss great, whose ranking has slipped to No. 7 this year due in large part to surprise losses to unheralded opponents at Wimbledon and the US Open, found some positives despite the defeat.
"I was pretty happy with my level of play," Federer was quoted as saying on the ATP World Tour's website.
"I wish I could have kept it up for a bit longer and put him under pressure, but Novak battled well to stay in the match in the second set and the third set. I had my chances in the second and third sets. Disappointed right now, but overall it was a good week for me," he said.
