Magician's spell

Fabrice Santoro causes an upset beating Serbia’s Novak Djokovic in the second round of the Paris Masters to set up clash with Andy Murray

PARIS: Frenchman Fabrice Santoro thrilled the home crowd by crushing world number three Novak Djokovic 6-3 6-2 in the second round of the Paris Masters on Wednesday.   

Djokovic, a revelation this season with five titles and a final appearance at the U.S. Open, was a shadow of his brilliant best.

The 20-year-old Serb, who entered the Bercy hall wearing a Zorro mask which he took off when the match started, made a string of unforced errors.

“Fabrice deserved to win but I played really badly,” said Djokovic. “It’s been a very long season and I’m really exhausted,” he added. “I hope people will understand. You can’t be at 100 percent all the time.”

The world number three went on to pay homage to the veteran Santoro, whose two handed game has confounded players for more than a decade.

“He’s one of the most respectful players because he’s 34, 35 years old,” said the 20-year-old Djokovic. “He’s played against three, four generations already.”

Djokovic also blamed a painful recovery from recent oral surgery for his defeat to Santoro. The Serb, who had surgery to remove two wisdom teeth little more than a week ago in Madrid, is pinning his hopes for the rest of the season on the Masters Cup starting November 11 in Shanghai.

“This was my last tournament before Shanghai, but I couldn’t give my 100 percent, not even 30 percent of my possibilities,” said Djokovic. “He deserved to win.”

Santoro, who has a reputation for upsetting big names and had knocked out world number five Andy Roddick last week in Lyon, double-faulted on his first match point but made amends with a backhand volley on the second to seal victory after 69 minutes.

The resilient 34-year-old next faces British number one Andy Murray, who had earlier stayed on course for a Masters Cup berth by beating Finn Jarkko Nieminen 7-6 6-3.

The 20-year-old Scot, who won his third career title on Sunday in Russia, is one of several players fighting for the two remaining spots at the Nov. 11-18 season-finale in Shanghai featuring the world’’s top eight.Murray took the first-set tiebreak 7-5 when Nieminen hit a backhand into the net.

Nieminen broke serve in the fourth game of the second set but the Briton hit back immediately before capturing the Finn’s serve again in the seventh game.

Murray, who escaped unhurt from a car accident in Paris on Monday, stayed in control until Nieminen bowed out with an unforced error on the second match point.

“Santoro is my favourite player to watch,” Murray said. “You won’t see a game style like his probably for the rest of my career. He’s just a completely different player, plays some unbelievable shots.”