Rafa beaten

Top seed Rafael Nadal's bid for a maiden Paris Masters title was halted when the Spaniard was beaten 6-4 7-5 in the semi-finals by German fourth seed Alexander Zverev.

Nadal, who reached the final at Bercy once in 2007, was only briefly in the mix, conceding serve three times.

Zverev will look to claim his fourth Masters title against Russian third seed Daniil Medvedev, who qualified with a commanding 6-4 7-6(4) victory against Canadian Milos Raonic.

Meanwhile Novak Djokovic has sealed the year-end men's world number one tennis ranking for the sixth time to go level with childhood hero Pete Sampras after closest rival Nadal opted against playing in the ATP Tour event in Sofia next week.

During the year Djokovic won the ATP Cup in January before picking up a record-extending eight Australian Open Grand Slam in Melbourne. He also won the Cincinnati Masters and a record 36th ATP Masters title in Rome.

In September Djokovic also overtook American Pete Sampras, who ended as No. 1 for six straight years between 1993 and 1998, for the most weeks overall at the top ranking and will begin his 294th week in first spot on Monday.

The 33-year-old Djokovic, the winner of 17 Grand Slam titles, has mentioned that Roger Federer's record of 310 weeks as No. 1 remains his target and he will have a chance to move past the Swiss on March 8 if he can hold on to his top spot.