By Bill Scott Nov 11, 2009, 22:24 GMT
Paris - Top seed Roger Federer exited the last tournament of the ATP regular season in disappointing style, taking a 3-6, 7-6 (7- 4), 6-4 second-round loss to Frenchman Julien Benneteau Wednesday at the Paris Masters.
The Swiss, who was beaten in the Sunday final of his home event in Basle by Novak Djokovic, lost in an opening match in Paris for the third time and first since 2002.
Federer failed to get over the line with his 60th win of the season, instead going into the World Tour Finals this month in London standing 59-10.
'I can definitely play much better, but I can also play much worse. It wasn't a bad performance,' said Federer. 'Julien went out and got the victory. I definitely had chances; I missed them.
'Seems to happen a bit to me now, looking back at the Basel final or the US Open final. I just have to make sure I don't let chances go by like this all the time.'
Benneteau, ranked 49th, fell to the court and later could not not hold back tears at his second-round accomplishment in front of a home public. He next gets an all-French challenge against Gael Monfils after the 15th seed beat qualifier David Guez 6-4, 7-5.
The upset took just under two hours with Federeer's 14 aces counting for little against the charged-up local.
Second seed Rafael Nadal had better luck in escaping from danger, with injured fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro barely able to stand at the end of a 3-6, 7-6 (7-2), 7-5 loss.
But Nadal still spent three and a quarter hours in the laboured opening victory.
He made hard work out of his first time on court in three weeks, saving five match points in a dramatic second set to stay alive for the third round.
'I played great tennis in that moment, the only moment ... for the rest of the match, I am very lucky to be in second round. That's the truth,' Nadal said.
'For the rest of the match, I didn't play well. I played bad today. That's a difficult court for me, maybe. I was practicing really well in Mallorca, but when I arrived here, it's tough to feel the way and the good rhythm.'
Almagro was treated throughout the final set for cramping in his thigh and leaned heavily on his racket during the closing stages with barely enough effort to stay on the court.
'I am happy to be playing,' Nadal said. 'The end of the season is gonna be difficult for me. I know that. But I am here to try my best all the time and to keep improving.'
Nadal and Federer are among the six men already qualified for the World Tour Finals year-end event this month in London, with the chasing pack for the last two spots now down to five from seven on Monday.
Robin Soderling kept in the race with a defeat of Ivo Karlovic 6- 4, 7-6 (8-6), with the Swede on provisional ninth in the race behind Nikolay Davydenko and Spain's Fernando Verdasco, seventh and eighth respectively.
Chile's Fernando Gonzalez, provisional 10th in the race to London, stayed alive by beating US player John Isner 7-5, 7-6 (7-3).
Djokovic, the third seed, reached the third round over Juan Monaco of Argentina 6-3, 7-5.
US Open champion Juan Del Potro ended the career of Marat Safin 6- 4, 5-7, 6-4.
Safin, the two-time Grand Slam winner, age 29, ended his time in tennis and was seen off with a farewell presentation in front of a holiday crowd in excess of 10,000 giving the mercurial and personable Russian a standing ovation.
In a surprise move by organizers, some of Safin's former colleagues were brought on court including ex-French Open winner Albert Costa, Swiss Marc Rosset, and Younes El Aynaoui.
'This day will stand out in my memory,' said the visibly moved Safin, whose exit from tennis will mean the loss of one of the sport's greatest characters and plain-speakers.
'This is where all of my memories are in one box - my wins, my losses, everything.'
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