Marat Safin bowed out of professional tennis with a 6-4 5-7 6-4 defeat by US Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro at the Paris Masters this afternoon.

The fiery Russian announced earlier this year he would be bringing to an end a 12-year career that has brought him two grand slam titles and the world number one ranking.

Today's match saw flashes of Safin at his brilliant best, and he fought impressively to take the second set, but there were also too many mistakes as fifth seed Del Potro booked his place in round three.

The crowd were behind the wild card, who is a three-time champion in Paris, throughout the match and, after a hug from Del Potro across the net, a host of Safin's current and former rivals came out on court to pay tribute to the Muscovite.

Safin was presented with a souvenir trophy and then addressed the crowd, saying: "It's a very special moment.

"I'm happy to get through to the second round and play Del Potro, I hope he's going to do well here. He's confident now because of me so if he's going to win it he can send me some prize money!

"This is the day where all my memories will be in one box. I'm closing one door, hopefully another door will be opened."

Safin, who needed to save match points in his first-round win over Thierry Ascione, appeared to have the tennis world at his feet when he demolished Pete Sampras in the US Open final as a 20-year-old in 2000.

But his unpredictable temperament and fondness for smashing racquets became as much a feature of his game as his power and superb shot-making.

He claimed his second slam crown at the Australian Open in 2005, beating Roger Federer in the semi-finals in one of the best matches in history and then seeing off home hero Lleyton Hewitt in the final.

That proved to be Safin's last title as injuries took their toll, and he leaves the sport at the age of 29 ranked 65th in the world.

In other matches, third seed Novak Djokovic saved two sets points against Juan Monaco on his way to a 6-3 7-5 victory.

The Serb, who beat Roger Federer in the final of the world number one's home-town event in Basle on Sunday, looked a little jaded and appeared in trouble at 2-5 in the second set.

But Monaco squandered two set points on his opponent's serve and five games in a row gave Djokovic victory.

The 22-year-old has enjoyed something of a resurgence in the latter half of the season having struggled to find his best form for the previous 12 months.

And he is optimistic of a good end to the year - if his body holds out.

He told Sky Sports: "It's been a very long season. I haven't won a major event but I've played a lot of finals. And four titles in the last two months, I'm playing the way I played in 2008.

"I didn't feel that fresh on the court today. It was a long week in Basle but hopefully I can recover physically and prepare mentally and get far this week and then (at the Barclays ATP Tour Finals in) London, which is the most important tournament at this time of the year."

Robin Soderling kept alive his chances of qualifying for the event at the O2 later this month with a 6-4 7-6 (8/6) victory over giant Croatian Ivo Karlovic.

The Swede must overhaul either Fernando Verdasco or Nikolay Davydenko to qualify for the prestigious eight-man tournament.