Simon, who beat Federer in their only past encounter, reckoned that the serve had somewhat failed Federer.

Gilles Simon of France returns a shot to Roger Federer of Switzerland during their Masters Cup tennis match in Shanghai November 10, 2008

"His serve was a little bit slower than usual. He has a good serve, but his serve is not that fast, so it was a little bit easier for me," he said. Federer, the winner of 13 grand slam titles, was in crisis this season as he lost to Nadal in the finals of the French Open and Wimbledon, and relinquished the world number one spot to the gritty Spaniard.

He managed to arrest his downturn in the U.S. Open where he beat Andy Murray to retain the title, and pledged to take the Masters Cup tournament as a launching pad for another period of supremacy.

He is still the man of the local fans who chanted his name and even sometimes applauded when the No. 8 seed Simon mishit a shot.

Federer gratified them by producing some scintillating performance in the fifth game of the first set to break Simon and led the score by 3-2.

Gilles Simon of France acknowledges the crowd after winning against Roger Federer of Switzerland during their Masters Cup tennis match in Shanghai November 10, 2008.

He rounded off the first set with his belated but effective first ace in the match. He got off to promising start in the second set where he broke Simon's serve in the third game. But his performance faltered in the ensued game and Simon broke back to level the score at 2-2. From then on, the former number one was apparently struggling before the combative Simon and was broken in the tenth game to award the Frenchman the win of the set.

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