SHANGHAI, China — Even David Nalbandian was impressed with the way he beat Roger Federer in the finals of the Masters Cup.

Nalbandian lost the first two sets and then trailed 30-0 with Federer serving for the match in the fifth set, before ending the top-ranked player's streak of 24 straight finals wins and handing him just his fourth loss of the year, 6-7 (4), 6-7 (11), 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (3) Sunday.

"It's really incredible, these kind of matches in the finals against the No. 1 of the world," Nalbandian said. "He didn't lose many matches during the year. So it's really important."

The 23-year-old Argentine didn't qualify automatically for the season-ending event. Ranked 12th, Nalbandian was drafted into the eight-man draw when third-ranked Andy Roddick pulled out with an injured back.

He had to cancel a planned fishing trip to travel to Shanghai, where Roddick was one of five leading players who withdrew either before or right at the start of the tournament.

After dropping the first two sets, Nalbandian won 16 of 19 games and led 4-0 in the deciding set before Federer, the two-time defending champion, mounted a comeback and was serving for the match at 6-5, 30-0.

"The match was already in my hands. I feel I didn't do a lot of mistakes in those moments — it was Roger coming up, playing much better," Nalbandian said. "Then I was almost done, 6-5, he's serving. I kept focused — the backhand, the return that I make in the 30-15 was very important. I think that moment was very important.

"I broke him, but then I need to play a tiebreak — and I lost both tiebreak that we played before. It's not easy to keep focused, but I made it."

Nalbandian earned $1.4 million for winning and improved his year-end ranking to a career-high No. 6.

The surprising win came a week after he lost to the Swiss star in the opening round-robin match here and 20 hours after Federer routed another Argentine, Gaston Gaudio, 6-0, 6-0 in the semifinals.

Federer was on a memorable roll: 35 straight wins; the all-time best unbeaten stretch in 24 finals; and an 81-3 record in 2005 — one win short of John McEnroe's Open era record for best winning percentage in a men's season.

Nalbandian wasted three set points in the second tiebreaker, and then changed his sweat-soaked black shirt for a fresh red one. That's when things changed.

He knew Federer wasn't match fit after spending six weeks on the sidelines with an injured right ankle, so he developed a special game plan to keep his rival running.

"I know that he wasn't 100 percent, his preparation wasn't the perfect one," he said. "I feel in the beginning of the third when he play not so good, that I had my chance in there. I had to keep going, to keep fighting, and play the most important match of the year. I left everything on court."

Nalbandian didn't mind that Federer had the Shanghai crowd right behind him, urging him on.

"That's normal — he's the No. 1," he said.

Nalbandian didn't expect much attention after being a late addition in the tournament.

"I think I surprised all the world, because beating (Federer), with that record, No. 1 of the world ... it's really incredible," said Nalbandian

Nalbandian said he'd learned from his lopsided loss in the 2002 Wimbledon final to Lleyton Hewitt, his biggest previous match in tennis.

"It's very, very important. When I played Hewitt in the Wimbledon finals, I was 20 years old, different," he said. "I was a little bit nervous, and I couldn't play my best. It makes me feel special to win like this. Of course, for the next time, very important matches or big moments, I will be different on court."

Nalbandian said he obviously had no regrets about not going fishing.

Besides, as the translator at Nalbandian's post-match news conference said, "he caught a big enough fish today — Roger Federer."

Federer injured his right ankle the week after ensuring the year-end No. 1 ranking with his 11th title of the year on Oct. 2 in Thailand.

Along with Roddick, second-ranked Rafael Nadal, No. 4 Hewitt, No. 5 Andre Agassi and Australian Open champion Marat Safin also withdrew either before or right at the start of the tournament.