Djokovic rallies to win Paris title

Third-seeded Novak Djokovic scrambled to a 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (3) victory over local favorite Gael Monfils on Sunday to win the Paris Masters tennis tournament for the first time.

The victory gave Djokovic back-to-back ATP Tour titles after his win over top-ranked Roger Federer in the Swiss Indoors final last Sunday.

Third-ranked Djokovic also beat World No. 2 Rafael Nadal in the semifinals in Paris and will be a strong favorite when he'll try to defend his title at the eight-man ATP World Tour Finals from Nov. 22-29 in London.

"Winning back-to-back titles at this level is a huge achievement for me, and adding to that, beating the World No.1 and No. 2," Djokovic said. "I really feel that I'm in great form right now."

The Serb looked set for a comfortable triumph after winning the first set in just 30 minutes but then struggled to stay at the same level.

"It was unbelievably difficult," said Djokovic, who has won a record 76 matches on the tour this season and claimed his first Masters 1000 tournament of the year following defeats in four finals.

Legal attack launched on WADA: Suspended Belgian players Yanina Wickmayer and Xavier Malisse are launching appeals with European authorities challenging the legality of the whereabouts rules of the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Victory at the European Commission in Brussels and the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights could force WADA to change its rules on when and where athletes can be tested out of competition.

"The indispensable fight against doping is not the issue here. The problem is the lack of proportionality of certain measures," their lawyer, Jean-Louis Dupont, said Sunday. The athletes are already appealing their one-year bans before the Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Maradona draws 2-month ban

In Zurich, FIFA handed Argentina coach Diego Maradona a two-month ban from all soccer activities on Sunday for his expletive-filled rants after his team qualified for the 2010 World Cup.

Maradona will miss Argentina's exhibition against the Czech Republic scheduled for Dec. 16, but he avoided sanctions that would have kept him from coaching at next year's World Cup in South Africa. He also was fined $24,250.

A disciplinary panel for world soccer's governing body heard the 49-year-old coach give evidence during a three-hour hearing on Sunday before excluding him from soccer until Jan. 15.

FIFA said Maradona apologized to the world soccer family during his 40-minute appearance before the panel, which had the authority to ban him from World Cup matches in South Africa next year.

The 1986 World Cup-winning captain launched a tirade at media critics after Argentina beat Uruguay 1-0 in its final qualifier last month in Montevideo.

Thousands gather for memorial: More than 45,000 fans gathered Sunday at the Hannover, Germany, stadium for a memorial service for Germany goalkeeper Robert Enke, whose suicide has shaken the country.

The 32-year-old player, who played for Hannover 96 and had a good chance of being Germany's starting goalkeeper at next year's World Cup in South Africa, stepped in front of a train near his Hannover home on Tuesday evening.

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