Simon piles on woe for Federer at Masters Cup

Top seed Roger Federer suffered the latest shock defeat of his troubled season while Andy Murray outlasted Andy Roddick at the Tennis Masters Cup on Monday.

Federer, the two-time defending champion, went down to unheralded Frenchman Gilles Simon, who prevailed 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 to make it two wins out of two against the former world number one.

In the later match, Murray survived a second-set fightback to beat Roddick 6-4, 1-6, 6-1.

Federer was forced to pull out of this month's Paris Masters with a back strain but refused to blame the problem as he got off to a losing start here for the second year in a row. The 27-year-old lost to Chile's Fernando Gonzalez in 2007 but came roaring back to claim his second straight title and fourth overall. He is still in the tournament with Red Group matches to come against Murray and Roddick.

"I didn't serve full-blast, especially from the start. I don't know if that cost me the match," Federer said.

"I was still in a position to win. It was just a pity I couldn't get to the finish line."

It was Federer's 14th defeat in a season in which he lost his five-year Wimbledon streak and then four-and-a-half-year top ranking to Rafael Nadal.

He also flopped in the Beijing Olympic singles but took doubles gold and claimed his 13th Grand Slam title at the US Open, closing on Pete Sampras's record of 14.

"I'm going to go match by match. That's the only way to go here anyway," Federer added.

"But at least it's the only tournament where I have a chance after losing in the first round. So again, I'm happy it happened here."

He started like the Federer of old and waltzed through the opening set, going a break up and then coolly acing the first set point.

But Simon levelled the match on a superb break point, out-volleying the sprawling Federer at the net.

The Frenchman looked to have let his chance slip when he wasted three break chances in the third set but he pounced in the seventh game and then aced his first match point.

"I'm very happy and very exhausted," said the 23-year-old. "It was a very long match but I played my best tennis in the last two sets."

Simon, the world number nine, is making his debut at the elite eight-man tournament after Nadal pulled out citing fatigue and tendinitis.

He also won their first career meeting at Toronto in July, which was Federer's first match after the epic Wimbledon final against the Spaniard.

Later Murray, who is also playing the season finale for the first time, broke early to take the first set but imploded in the second as Roddick roared back into contention.

However Murray, who is enjoying the best spell of his career, broke twice in the decider to halt the American's comeback, finishing it with a leaping backhand overhead.

"It's tough against someone like Andy. He's got a great serve and when he gets ahead like today in the second set he puts a lot of pressure on you. He's hard to play against," Murray said.

Murray, widely tipped to break Britain's 76-year Grand Slam drought, is at a career-high fourth ranking after back-to-back Masters series wins and reaching the US Open final.

Roddick is making his fifth appearance at the Tennis Masters Cup and has reached the semi-finals twice.

The 4.45-million-dollar 'fifth Grand Slam' is making a fourth and last appearance at Shanghai's futuristic Qi Zhong Stadium before moving to London as the ATP World Tour Final.

SHANGHAI, Tuesday AFP