The nine Masters 1000 has been shuffled around a few times, but the Paris Indoors has been a mainstay of this series.  It’s also been a tough one for the big names to win.  Murray has never won it.  Nadal has never won it.  Federer has never won it.  Indeed, of the three, only Nadal has ever reached the final, losing in 2007 to David Nalbandian. Only Djokovic has won the title back in 2009 beating Gael Monfils in the finals.  Gael Monfils would reach the finals again in 2010, but would not win the title as Robin Soderling mastered the Frenchman.

This year, Monfils lost early, but Jo-Wilfried Tsonga rallied French hopes for a Paris title, one that he won back in 2008.

Federer must have seen the semis and the finals as a two-part test to quell the two players not in the top 4 to get in the way of Slam success.  In 2010, Berdych beat Federer in the quarters of Wimbledon.  In 2011, Tsonga beat Federer in the quarters of Wimbledon.

Federer played sublime tennis to beat Berdych in the semis.

He did even better in the finals, taking the first set easily, 6-1.  Tsonga held tough in the second and didn’t drop serve.  Neither did Federer.  The second set went to a tiebreak, one that Federer won comfortably, 7-3.

Federer said, in an interview after the match, that all the work he did for Paris was worth it, but that he was tired and not feeling 100% and expected to feel even more tired tomorrow.  He has approximately 6 days to rest up for London depending on whether he gets a Sunday start or a Monday start.

With this, Federer’s year-to-date point total should reach 6670 points while Murray should reach 7380 which is a 710 point cushion.  For Federer to catch up to Murray, he needs to at least reach the finals where he can gain 1100 points (1300 if he sweeps the round robin).  Should Murray win two round-robin matches, Federer will either have to sweep the round robin or win the ATP World Tour Final.  Both will be challenging.

The ATP World Tour Final will be held on November 20, 2011 at the O2 Arena in London.  This is the third year that the event has been held in London.