In this paper, the phase diverisity in a direct-conversion receiver for a UHF RFID reader is analyzed and the optimal I/Q signal combining methods is presented with respect to tag modulation. At first, fading characteristics of a single channel receiver is shown to prove the importance of phase diversity due to the phase relationship between the backscattered signal and the local oscillator. And the optimal signal combining methods are presented in order to overcome the signal power reduction due to phase diversity. In case of ASK, the power combining method is presented for the optimal I/Q combining. And the arctangent and principal component combining methods using covariance matrix of I and Q channels are presented for the optimal I/Q combining in case of PSK. In order to analyze the performance of suggested methods, the selection diversity and the optimal combining methods are compared. According to analysis and simulation results, the optimal combining methods have a maximum 3 dB SNR enhancement than selection diversity.