20 November 2004	Saturday	07 Shawwal 1425

HOUSTON, Nov 19: Second-ranked Andy Roddick clinched a berth in the ATP Masters Cup semifinals by beating Russia's Marat Safin 7-6 (9/7), 7-6 (7/4) on Thursday. And Britain's Tim Henman maintained hopes for his first title of the year with a 6-2, 6-2 round-robin triumph over Argentina's Guillermo Coria.

Wimbledon runner-up Roddick fired 16 aces, the last on his first match point, to finish off fourth-ranked Australian Open runner-up Safin after 1hr 50min and claim his third straight victory over the ATP's hottest player.

Henman avenged a French Open semifinal loss and snapped a three-match losing streak to Coria. He will face Safin on Friday to determine a berth in Saturday's semifinals. Safin is the hottest player on tour, having won titles at Beijing, Madrid and Paris in the past two months. But he could not conquer Roddick despite firing 16 aces against only one double fault.

Spain's Carlos Moya will try to sustain his title hopes against Swiss world number one and defending champion Roger Federer in a later match. Federer has already clinched a semifinal berth.

Safin squandered three break points on Roddick in the 12th game of the second set. Roddick hit two winners and an ace to save them. Safin then sent a forehand long, slammed his racket to the ground and broke it over his knee.

Roddick held to force the tie-breaker, then won five of the final six points for the triumph, firing four aces in the tie-breaker. Seven of the past nine sets between Roddick and Safin have resulted in tie-breakers, including the past five in a row.

Roddick squandered three first-set points with errant tie-breaker shots and Safin saved another with a forehand winner. But Safin then sent a backhand drop volley wide and Roddick took the set with a serve and two-volley winner.

Safin joked about wanting to save the event by not beating a local favourite. Seventh-ranked Henman, the oldest man here at 30, was rarely tested by Coria in the South American's first event since August right shoulder surgery. Coria had no aces and seven winners. Henman had five aces and 32 winners.

Henman's first Masters Cup appearance since a 1998 semi-final run caps a year that saw him reach the US and French Open semis for the first time and the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the eighth time in nine years.

Round-robin results:

Blue Group Tim Henman (Britain) bt Guillermo Coria (Argentina) 6-2 6-; Andy Roddick (United States) bt Marat Safin (Russia) 7-6 7-6. -Agencies