TENNIS in DEPTH.

Feliciano Lopez and Stephane Robert will meet in the SA Tennis Open final after stunning the top two seeds at Montecasino on Sunday.

Arguably the bigger upset came in Saturday’s first semi-final when Robert eased past 18th-ranked David Ferrer 7-5 6-4, while Lopez battled hard to beat world number 13 Gael Monfils in three sets – 3-6 6-1 7-6 (7/1).

Ferrer, a semi-finalist last year, struggled to settle against the base-line play of a man ranked 82 places below him at 100.

Robert was particularly impressive on his first serve in the opening set, winning 19 out of 24 points.

He then wore down his second-seeded opponent in the second set with two breaks of serve to one, which helped him close out the win in one hour 36 minutes.

Top seed Monfils would have been expecting an all-French final after cruising to victory in the first set – 11 aces clearly aiding his cause.

But Lopez had other ideas and started the second set in dominant style, dropping just one game.

The final set went on serve right through to the tie-break.

And Monfils, who had previously not lost a set all week in Johannesburg, looked out of it from the outset. He won just a single point as Lopez stormed into the final.

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Top seed Gael Monfils has withdrawn from the Medibank International Sydney with a shoulder injury which also has the Frenchman in doubt for the Australian Open starting in Melbourne next Monday.

Monfils says his right serving shoulder is inflamed and requires several days’ rest.

“I think I have an inflammation, and I am injured since last week in the tournament in Brisbane. It was getting worse and worse. I had little hope to be a bit better, but I think it’s gonna be — if I’m keep going playing on it, it’s gonna turn into something chronic I think,” Monfils said on Monday.

“So I need to take some days off and just need to think to be 100% for Australian Open.”

The world No.12 is hopeful of being fit for the opening grand slam of the year, but won’t make a decision until later this week.

“I hope so. To be honest, like I plan maybe try to hit a little bit middle of this week, and try to serve end of this week and to see. But I really hope so.

“I have treatment with my physio, and then maybe I will try to make some x-ray to see exactly what it is. I try to stay positive on my participation for the Australian Open.”

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Gael Monfils fought back from a set down to topple  American James Blake 3-6 6-3 6-4 in a highly entertaining quarterfinal at Pat Rafter Arena.

The third seed’s victory has set up an intriguing clash with defending champion Radek Stepanek, who easily overcame another unseeded American in Wayne Odesnik, on Saturday.

It took Monfils four match-points to finally sink Blake, after breaking him in the seventh game of the deciding set.

Blake survived the third match point with a fortunate forehand that clipped the net cord and gave the world No.13 no chance.

One of the characters of men’s tennis, Monfils immediately walked to the net and brushed the cord before waving his finger at it and telling it not to hurt him again, leaving the Brisbane crowd in stitches.

Blake’s luck didn’t last much longer as Monfils, who served 13 aces for the match, ended his tournament with the next two points.

Blake had three more break-point chances in the match but Monfils saved seven of his nine.

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Novak Djokovic secured back-to-back ATP titles on Sunday by edging battling Frenchman Gael Monfils 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (7/3) in a thrilling Paris Masters final.

The win was the first for Djokovic in the Masters Series, he collects 1000 points, this year following four runner-up finishes and it will send him into the season-ending ATP Tour World Finals in London from November 22-29 as the favourite, and defending Champion.

But it remains to be seen just how much his efforts here this week, and throughout the year, have taken out of him after he completed a tour-leading 94th match of the season.

At 6-2, 3-0 up Djokovic appeared to be cruising toward his first Paris Masters title, but a combination of fatigue from Djokovic, and bravado from Monfils saw the home favourite claw his way back into the match.

The Serb again looked set for victory when he led 4-1 in the decider but again Monfils battled back to level at 4-4 and the final went all the way to a tie-break. Monfils dispalyed some of the raw talent that made him one of the best juniors ever, but so many times his shot selection cost him crucial points. He continues to play as an exhibitionist rather than a serious tennis professional.

Djokovic led from the start and clinched the title when Monfils double faulted with the Serb 6-3 ahead.

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The home crowd at the Paris Masters had something to cheer when Gael Monfils recovered from a set down to beat Marin Cilic 3-6 6-4 6-4.

“It’s great to win in France like this,” Monfils told Sky Sports 2. “I fought and competed very well.

“I am in the semi-finals so I am very happy now and I hope I am not finished here.”

Asked about the key to turning the match around, Monfils added: “I was a little too defensive but I tried to be more aggressive and move him a little bit more, but the main thing was the belief in myself.”

Monfils will now take on Radek Stepanek in the semis.

The 30-year-old Czech was 4-0 up on world number five Juan Martin del Potro in the last of the day’s quarter-finals when the Argentinian was forced to retire with what looked like a stomach injury.

US Open champion Del Potro, who came through a gruelling match against Fernando Gonzalez yesterday, had nothing left to give against Stepanek and called it a day with the World Tour Finals coming up.

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Two of the top three seeds tumbled as the Bank Austria Tennis Trophy reached the quarter-final stage on Friday.

Second-seeded Radek Stepanek was brushed aside 6-2 6-2 by seventh-seeded Jurgen Melzer of Austria, and was followed out of the tournament by third-seeded Gael Monfils.

The Frenchman went out 6-4 6-7 (8-10) 6-3 to Serbian Janko Tipsarevic in a two-hour marathon.

Their exits keep the path clear for top seed Marin Cilic, with the Croatian making light work of Spain’s Feliciano Lopez, the sixth seed, in a 6-1 6-4 victory this afternoon.

Also through is fourth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber, who edged out another Spaniard, fifth-seeded Nicolas Almagro, 7-5 6-4.

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Gael Monfils of France and Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland joined the long list of injury withdrawals from the Shanghai Masters, pulling out of their matches Thursday.

Monfils, seeded 11th, withdrew with a back injury while trailing unseeded Croatian Ivan Ljubicic 6-2, 3-0.

Wawrinka was treated on court for stomach pain and trailed 3-6, 7-6 (5), 4-2 against Czech Radek Stepanek when he retired.

Five other players have retired from matches with assorted injuries at Shanghai this week: reigning U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro, Andy Roddick, Tommy Haas, Jose Acasuso and Mischa Zverev.

Sixth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, who himself withdrew from two tournaments earlier in the year with a heel injury, advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 7-5 win over 10th-seeded Fernando Gonzalez on Thursday.

Davydenko, who pressured the Chilean with his return game, has won 12 of the 13 sets he’s played against Gonzalez in their six career meetings.

Davydenko will play Stepanek in the quarterfinals, while Ljubicic will face either top-seeded Rafael Nadal or Tommy Robredo in the last eight.

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