Nalbandian downs Federer at Paris Masters tennis tournament

AFP, November, 2007

PARIS (AFP) — David Nalbandian became the second man this season to beat Roger Federer back-to-back with a 6-4, 7-6 (7/3 ) win at the Paris Masters, sending the Swiss to the end-of-season Masters Cup on the back of a loss.

The Argentine stopped Federer in a Madrid final comeback less than a fortnight ago.

The beefy Argentine, who picked up a coach over the summer and turned his big game on its head, kept the world number one on the hop throughout their third-round contest with a power baseline game on a relatively slow surface.

After denying the South American the chance to serve out victory leading 5-4 in the second set, Federer then committed errors on three of his last four shots of the match in the ensuing tiebreaker to exit.

"He's so dominant...