Federer is a former champion in Miami, but was defeated last year in a racquet-breaking performance to Djokovic.

Federer won the Australian Open but due to a lung infection only played at Indian Wells where he was defeated in three sets by Marcos Baghdatis.

Djokovic, the Miami No. 2 seed, lost to Ivan Ljubicic at Indian Wells. Djokovic won Dubai and then won two singles matches in Davis Cup before coming to Miami.

Rafael Nadal is still seeking his first title since Rom last year. The Spaniard lost int he quarterfinals in Australia to Andy Murray where he suffered a knee injury.

Nadal did come back in desert last week but was stunned yesterday by Ljubicic.

Andy Roddick and a host of other great players will be competing in the tournament.

Tsonga, who began the day at No. 8 in the ATP 2008 Race, received a further 30 points with the title to leap frog Juan Martin del Potro and claim seventh place.

The victory not only grants Tsonga a place at the prestigious circuit finale to be held at the Qi Zhong Stadium in Shanghai from November 9-16, it also earns him his first ATP Masters Series title.

The Le Mans native, who was seeded 13th this week, becomes the first French champion at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy since Sebastien Grosjean in 2001 (d. Kafelnikov), who also secured his place at Tennis Masters Cup with the victory. It is the third time since Grosjean’s triumph in ’01 that a French player has qualified at the BNP Paribas Masters, with Richard Gasquet also doing so last year courtesy of a semifinal run. Tsonga is also the first player since Grosjean to have qualified for the season-ending championships by having to win the Paris title.

The French crowd made its voice heard from the moment the players walked onto Court Central and certainly inspired both players to produce, at times, marvelous tennis. Tsonga enjoyed a fast start to his debut ATP Masters Series final, breaking serve in the second game as an edgy Nalbandian double faulted. The 23-year-old saved a break point in the seventh game before going on to confidently close out the set after 32 minutes.

Tsonga had the chance to gain an early break advantage in the second set as Nalbandian double faulted, however the Argentine quickly alleviated the danger with one of just four aces he served throughout the encounter.

Tsonga’s serve was a huge weapon as he fired 25 aces in the two hour match and it got him out of trouble in the eighth game of the second set when he trailed 0-40 before digging out the game to level at 4-4. Nalbandian persisted to chip away at the resistance of Tsonga though and reaped his reward as the Frenchman slipped to a 0-40 deficit when serving at 4-5 and Nalbandian leveled the match as Tsonga netted a forehand on his first set point.

Tsonga was quick to hit back, riding out to an early lead in the deciding set with a break of serve in the third game as Nalbandian netted a backhand. Nalbandian continued to fight hard and was denied the chance to break back by a Tsonga ace at 2-3. The Cordoba resident was presented with three final chances as nervous play from Tsonga saw him trail 0-40 when serving for the match at 5-4. But Tsonga’s nerve held strong and brave play from the right-hander, including his 25th ace, brought up his first match point, which he converted as Nalbandian’s shot found the net.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga now will become the No. 1 French player and join countryman Gilles Simon in Monday’s Top 10 of the South African Airways ATP Rankings; he began the season ranked No. 43. This will mark the first time since October 3, 1988 (Yannick Noah No. 8; Henri Leconte No. 10) that two French players are in the Top 10.

Tsonga now owns two ATP titles after winning his first at Bangkok (d. Djokovic) in September. The La Rippe, Switzerland native, who missed three months of the ATP circuit over the summer following right knee surgery, was a finalist at the Australian Open at the start of the season (l. to Djokovic).

The 26-year-old Nalbandian, who defeated Rafael Nadal in last year’s final, was bidding to become the first player to win back-to-back titles in Bercy (since 1986).

The right-hander, who also would have qualified for Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai had he won the title, was bidding for his third ATP Masters Series title and has a 2-4 record in finals.

He will now focus his attentions on Argentina’s clash with Spain in the Davis Cup final, to be played at Mar del Plata in Argentina, November 21-23.

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The Scot was competing in his third final in four events, having captured his first ATP Masters Series crown at Cincinnati (d. Djokovic) and reached his maiden Grand Slam final at the US Open (d. Nadal; l. to Federer). He is already assured of his place at Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai for the first time, currently No. 4 in the ATP 2008 Race.

This week has also seen Simon build a strong case for his place at the season-ending finale. The 23-year-old Nice native came into Madrid at No. 12 in ATP 2008 Race. He will now move to No. 9 in the ATP 2008 Race, within six points of No. 8 Juan Martin del Potro, and become the No. 1 Frenchman.

Dunblane native Murray becomes the first British player to win two ATP Masters Series titles, as Tim Henman (2003 Paris) and Greg Rusedski (1998 Paris) both won one each. The right-hander is also the first player to win back-to-back titles at ATP Masters Series Cincinnati and Madrid (since 2002).

It is the Scot’s seventh overall ATP title and fourth of the season. Murray, who also triumphed at Doha (d. Wawrinka), Marseille (d. Ancic) and Cincinnati, becomes just the third player this season together with Juan Martin del Potro (4) and Rafael Nadal (8) to win four ATP titles. He is the first British player to win four titles in a season, eclipsing Mark Cox who captured three in 1975.

Simon, who played a decisive third set tie-break four times during the week, made a slow start to the match. He surrendered his serve in the fifth game as a lob from Murray forced him out of position and the Scot capitalized with a strong backhand up the line to force the error.

Simon survived a break point against him early in the second set before settling into his rhythm and forcing the tie-break. He looked poised to take the match into a third set when he held two set points at 6-4, however he failed to convert both and Murray seized the initiative. The Scot hit a backhand return winner to earn a 7-6 lead and converted his first match point as Simon missed a tricky backhand volley after 1 hr., 35 min. Throughout the encounter Murray served 11 aces and did not face a break point.

In the semifinals Murray had toppled Roger Federer, while Simon had edged out home favorite and World No. 1 Rafael Nadal. The Neuchatel, Switzerland resident had saved six match points and spent a total of 11 hr., 47 min., on court en route to the final.

Simon, who dropped to a 45-23 match record on the season, was bidding for his fourth ATP title of the season, having claimed his first three at Casablanca (d. Benneteau), his first title on U.S. soil at Indianapolis (d. Tursunov) and last month at Bucharest (d. Moya).

The 26-year-old started strongly moving into a 4-0 lead before Soderling, who was making his sixth appearance in Stockholm, won his first serve game. Nalbandian won 17 of 20 service points in the 25-minute first set.

Nalbandian moved into a 4-2 lead in the second set, courtesy of a service break in the third game, before dropping serve to love. Soderling converted his second break of serve to clinch the second set 7-5 in 40 minutes.

In the deciding set, Nalbandian secured service breaks in the sixth and seventh and ninth games for victory in one hour and 38 minutes. The Cordoba resident hit 13 aces; won 73 per cent of service points and saved two of four break point opportunities in the final.

Nalbandian hit 31 aces and won 40 of 43 service games in five match wins this week.

Nalbandian improved to 34-13 (14-5 on hard courts) on the season, highlighted by one other ATP title at Buenos Aires (d. Acasuso) and a runner-up finish in Acapulco (l. to Almagro) in February.

The World No. 7 improved to 9-8 in ATP finals (3-2 in hard-court finals).

The 24-year-old Soderling, who hit 18 aces in the final, was appearing in his eighth ATP final (2-6 record). He was attempting to capture his first ATP title since 2005 Milan (d. Stepanek).

The top-ranked Swede dropped to 38-19 on the season (23-11 on hard courts). In February he finished runner-up at consecutive ATP events in Rotterdam (l. to Roddick) and Memphis (l. to Darcis). He falls to 9-28 against Top 10 stars.

Nalbandian earned 225 South African Airways ATP Ranking points and collected €115,500 in prize money, while Soderling €62,400 and 155 points.

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Having started the week at No. 29 in the ATP 2008 Race, Berdych has an outside chance of qualifying for Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai for the first time; he is 133 points behind No. 8 James Blake.

Del Potro, meanwhile, will rise to No. 9 both in the Race and the South African Airways ATP Rankings – a new career-high – on the strength of his performance in Tokyo. He is the second Argentine to rank inside the elite Top 10, behind No. 7 David Nalbandian.

Berdych, who is currently ranked No. 27, is a former Top 10 player, peaking at No. 9 on August 20, 2007.

In a dominant display by the top Czech player, Berdych fired 11 aces, converted three of eight break points and defended all three against him in the 1 hr., 17 min., encounter. In the first set, he surrendered just four points on serve.

In the semifinals, Berdych came back from the brink of defeat against No. 2 seed Andy Roddick, who led 5-2 in the third set and served for the match at 5-3 before Berdych fought back to claim victory. Other seeded players to fall victim to the right-hander this week are No. 9 Tommy Robredo and No. 3 Fernando Gonzalez.

The 23-year-old Berdych, who has now won 13 of his past 16 matches against Argentine opponents, was contesting his second ATP final of the season after finishing runner-up to Tommy Robredo in Bastad in July. The title is his first since 2007 Halle (d. Baghdatis) and his fourth overall as he takes his lifetime record in ATP finals to 4-4. His only previous hard court final came at 2006 Mumbai, when he lost out to Dmitry Tursunov.

The Monte-Carlo resident has now compiled a 32-19 season match record (22-11 on hard court), which includes reaching the semifinals at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami (l. to Nadal) and last week in Bangkok (l. to Djokovic).

The 20-year-old del Potro was bidding to become the first player to win his first five ATP finals in his career since Dutchman Sjeng Schalken, who won his five from 1995-97, ‘99 and 2000. Del Potro now has a 4-1 record in ATP singles finals and is second among ATP title leaders this year – behind only ATP World No. 1 Rafael Nadal, who has won eight titles from 10 finals.

The Tandil resident captured his maiden ATP title at Stuttgart (d. Gasquet), then followed it with consecutive wins in Kitzbuhel (d. Melzer), Los Angeles (d. Roddick) and Washington (d. Troicki) before reaching his first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the US Open (l. to Murray). The Tokyo defeat is just his second loss in his past 31 matches. He drops to a 38-10 record on the season.

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After beginning the week in seventh place in the ATP 2008 Race, eight points behind No. 6 David Ferrer, Roddick, a three-time Tennis Masters Cup semifinalist, will now usurp the Spaniard and assume sixth place as he bids to qualify for the circuit finale for a fifth time.

Afterwards, Roddick announced that he would donate $25,000 of his prize money to the Chinese Tennis Association (CTA) to support in assisting and helping those who suffered in the catastrophic earthquake in the Sichuan Province.

The 26-year-old Roddick titled at San Jose (d. Stepanek) and Dubai (d. Nadal, Djokovic, F. Lopez) earlier this season and has now taken his title tally to three for the season, tying him in third place with Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Gilles Simon on the singles titles leader board.

The American has also finished runner-up at Los Angeles (l. to del Potro) and made semifinal exits at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami (d. Federer, l. to Davydenko), Masters Series Rome (ret. vs. Wawrinka) and Queen’s Club (l. to Nadal) this season.

The Austin resident was appearing in his 40th ATP final and now improves to a 26-14 record after capturing his 11th hard court title.

The former World No. 1 and 2003 US Open champion (d. Ferrero) did not enjoy a smooth ride to victory against Sela though. He appeared to be on course to secure the title in straight sets when he held two match points at 6-4 in the second set tie-break. However, Sela hit back to win the next four points and force the match into a third set. Roddick regrouped though and a break in the sixth game proved sufficient for him to go on and win after 2 hr., 1 min. He now improves to a perfect 9-0 record in finals against players challenging for their maiden ATP title.

The 6’2’’ right-hander fired 17 aces in the final, taking his total for the week to 73. Making his debut in Beijing, he becomes the third American champion, following in the footsteps of Michael Chang, who won the title three years in a row, starting with the inaugural edition in 1993, and Jim Courier, who titled in 1997.

His fourth defeat by a Top 10 player (2-4 record) brings to an end a dream week for the 23-year-old Sela, who had defeated World No. 5 and top seed David Ferrer, sixth seed Tommy Robredo and seventh seed Rainer Schuettler en route to his first ATP final.

The Tel Aviv resident is the first Israeli to reach an ATP singles final since Harel Levy at Nottingham in 2001 (l to T. Johansson) and was bidding to become the first title winner since Amos Mansdorf at 1993 Washington (d. Martin).

World No. 92 Sela, who is the top-ranked Israeli, has improved to 15-21 for the season on the strength of his results this week, which is already an improvement on his previous career-best of 10-5, recorded last year.