BASEL – World No. 1 Roger Federer missed out on a fourth successive Swiss Indoors title when he lost to third-ranked Novak Djokovic in the final of his hometown tournament Sunday.
The Serbian won 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 to record his third win over Federer in five meetings this year.
The Swiss, who was once a ball boy at the tournament, was returning after a six-week mini-break following his US Open final defeat to Juan Martin del Potro.
Federer, who had not previously dropped a set or lost a service game in the tournament, had his serve broken four times as he lost a final for the third time this year following defeats at the Australian and US Open.
Italy bags Fed Cup
Flavia Pennetta charged past Melanie Oudin 7-5, 6-2 in the third singles rubber to give an unassailable 3-0 lead to the host, which was helped by Serena and Venus Williams again opting not to compete for the US.
Italy, which first won the trophy in 2006 and overcame defending champion Russia in this year’s semifinals, had never beaten the Americans in nine previous Fed Cup ties.
The fourth singles match between Schiavone and Glatch was scrapped with Italy already having triumphed, leaving Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci to entertain the fans with victory over Vania King and Liezel Huber in the doubles. They won 4-6, 6-3 and 11-9 in a super tiebreak instead of a third set. The Americans have racked up a record 17 Fed Cup titles but have not lifted the trophy since 2000.

Easy for Murray
Top seed Andy Murray dismissed unseeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 6-2 in the final of the Valencia Open Sunday to clinch a sixth title of the year on his return from injury.

Santoro bows out
Frenchman Fabrice Santoro brought down the curtain on a remarkable and atypical career by losing to American James Blake in the first round of the Paris Masters Sunday.
The oldest player on the men’s circuit, Santoro, who will turn 37 next month, confirmed after a 6-4, 6-3 defeat that he was now retiring.