Djokovic, Del Potro through in Paris

Safin fell a set down after ballooning a return beyond the baseline but he brought up three set points on Del Potro serve in the second set.

The curtain fell on Marat Safin's tempestuous tennis career when the Russian former world number one lost 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 to Juan Martin Del Potro in the Paris Masters second round here on Wednesday.

Safin has decided to retire from the sport at the age of 29 and was unable to prolong his career despite warm encouragement from the crowd at the Bercy arena, where he has previously tasted title success on three occasions.

- This day will stand out for a long time, until I pass into a different world - Safin told the crowd during a post-match ceremony in which he was shown a video of his peers congratulating him on his career.

- This day will be where all the memories of my career will stay, all in one box. This day is special because I'm closing one door and hopefully opening another. -

Safin fell a set down after ballooning a return beyond the baseline but he brought up three set points on Del Potro's serve in the second set and secured the second of those when the Argentine put a forehand wide.

Del Potro, the fifth seed and reigning US Open champion, broke early in the decider though and ushered Safin into retirement when he produced a pair of aces to bring up and then convert his second match point.

Del Potro joins third seed Novak Djokovic in round three after the Serbian overcame Argentina's Juan Monaco 6-3, 7-5.

- I didn't feel that great on the court - said Djokovic, who beat world number one Roger Federer in the Basel final on Sunday.

- It was probably a long week in Basel that affected that. But I got a victory and that's what matters most. Generally speaking I've picked up great form in the last two months. -

Djokovic will face either German 16th seed Tommy Haas or Arnaud Clement of France in the next round, with Del Potro to play Chilean 10th seed Fernando Gonzalez or American John Isner.

Swedish ninth seed Robin Soderling kept alive his hopes of snatching a place at the ATP World Tour Finals in London by defeating Croatia's Ivo Karlovic 6-4, 7-6 (8/6).

Soderling is one place outside the eight qualifying berths for the year-end event but needs to at least reach the final here to stand any chance of securing one of the last two available spots and will meet Russian Nikolay Davydenko, currently seventh in the race to London, in the next round.

The world's top five players are all in action on Wednesday, with Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray hoping to follow Djokovic and Del Potro into round three later.

Federer meets France's Julien Benneteau and Nadal takes on fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro, with fourth seed Murray of Britain beginning his campaign against America's James Blake.

The 2.75 million-euro event is the final Masters tournament of the year and boasts a line-up that features every top 15 player except the injured Andy Roddick.