"Perfect" Djokovic outplays Nadal, faces Monfils

By Patrick Vignal

PARIS (Reuters) - Serbia's Novak Djokovic praised his "perfect" performance after outclassing world number two Rafael Nadal 6-2 6-3 to set up a Paris Masters final against local hope Gael Monfils on Saturday.

World number three Djokovic, who beat world number one Roger Federer in the Basel final last week, extended a brilliant run of form and will start favorite against Monfils, having won their three previous encounters.

Monfils, seeded 15th, thrilled the 14,000 fans packing the Bercy hall when he knocked out 13th Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic 6-4 5-7 6-4 in the other semi-final, which was a lot tighter and could have gone either way.

"There's not much to say about today's performance except it was perfect, you know, exactly the way I wanted it," said Djokovic.

"I was hitting winners from all over the court and really trying to keep that momentum going during the whole match," he added, summing up a spectacular performance.

Djokovic will play his fifth final and chase a first title this year in a Masters 1000 event while Monfils will feature in a final in the showcase series for the first time.

Spaniard Nadal, who has not won a title since beating Djokovic in the Rome Masters final last May, looked helpless at times and will now prepare for the November 22-29 World Tour Finals in London featuring the world's top eight players.

"PLAYED UNBELIEVABLE"