Djokovic Loses In Second Round Of Paris Masters

PARIS (AP) _ Novak Djokovic was ousted from the Paris Masters on Wednesday, losing to French veteran Fabrice Santoro 6-3, 6-2 in the second round. <br/><br/>The U.S. Open finalist, who had two wisdom teeth

Wednesday, October 31st 2007, 2:07 pm

By: News On 6

PARIS (AP) _ Novak Djokovic was ousted from the Paris Masters on Wednesday, losing to French veteran Fabrice Santoro 6-3, 6-2 in the second round.

The U.S. Open finalist, who had two wisdom teeth pulled after the Madrid Masters earlier this month, said he was not fully fit because he was still taking medication.

``I wasn't moving well,'' the third-ranked Serb said. ``Santoro took over the control. I was having all the unforced errors and making free points for him. Unfortunately I couldn't give my 100 percent _ not even 30 percent.''

Djokovic, who returned to training Monday, lost to David Nalbandian in the Madrid Masters semifinals on Oct. 20.

``I agree he didn't play at this top level,'' Santoro said. ``I'm happy that I won. Against the No. 3 in the world, it's not often (that happens).''

Rafael Nadal overcame an early to break to easily beat Filippo Volandri 6-3, 6-1 and reach the third round.

``I'm happy with my serve,'' the second-ranked Spaniard said. ``I made some mistakes at the start, but after that I played very well.''

Nadal will next play Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, who beat Juan Ignacio Chela 6-3, 6-1.

``Paris is a very big tournament and I am going to try to play my best here,'' Nadal said. ``If I play a good tournament here I am going to arrive (in) Shanghai with more confidence.''

Andy Murray beat Jarkko Nieminen of Finland 7-6 (5), 6-3 to stay in contention for the season-ending Masters Cup. He will next face Santoro.

``Santoro is my favorite player to watch,'' Murray said. ``He's just a completely different player, plays some unbelievable shots.''

Santoro jokingly retorted that Murray should just ``watch me and let me play.''

Murray, who won his third career title at St. Petersburg, Russia, on Sunday, trailed 3-1 in the second set but broke Nieminen three straight times.

There are only two of eight spots remaining for the Shanghai event, and James Blake of the United States and Richard Gasquet of France are also still in contention.

Gasquet rallied from 4-1 down in the first set to beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-5, 7-6 (3). The sixth-seeded Blake was later to face Nicolas Mahut of France.

Thirteenth-seeded Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia saw his slim Shanghai hopes end after a 6-4, 7-6 (4) loss to Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus, who next plays defending champion Nikolay Davydenko.

The fourth-seeded Russian beat Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina 7-6 (3), 6-1, but is hampered by a sore elbow.

``It's not really 100 percent,'' Davydenko said. ``I'm really scared. You cannot practice very well and you cannot prepare for the tournament.''

The 14th-seeded Carlos Moya of Spain also had his outside shot at reaching Shanghai end with a 6-4, 6-4 loss to David Nalbandian. The Argentine next meets Roger Federer or Ivo Karlovic, who played later.

Federer beat Karlovic in the semifinals of the Swiss Indoors last week for his 52nd career title.

He has already qualified for Shanghai, along with Nadal, Djokovic, Davydenko, Andy Roddick, and David Ferrer.