Paris - Novak Djokovic denied Rafael Nadal a 400th career victory Saturday as he crushed the Spaniard 6-2, 6-3 to place into a third ATP final in six weeks at the Paris Masters. Nadal, seeded second, had no answer on the day for the third- seeded Serb, who will play his tenth final of 2009 against either Czech 13th seed Radek Stepanek or the last home hope in the field, Gael Monfils.
The Djokovic win in 76 minutes was only his sixth in the series against 14 defeats.
Djokovic added a win to his ATP-leading record to stand 7-18 match record, the most wins of any player this season. He also leads the table on ten final appearances, converting three into 2009 titles.
Nadal never threatened, losing serve twice in the 37-minute opening set and once in he hid as Djokovic took a stranglehold on the contest.
Nadal's loss was his 11th this season as elite players prepare to move to London from the weekend for the World Tour Finals in London starting a week from Sunday Djokovic will play his fifth Masters 1000 final of this season, including three consecutive - Miami, Monte- Carlo (where he lost to Nadal in three sets) and Rome (another loss to the Spaniard). The Serb has a 32-8 record at the Tour Masters level in 2009 and stands 13-11 versus Top 10 opponents this year.
Nadal exited in his second Paris Bercy semi-final appearance after losing at this stage in 2007 against David Nalbandian.
