November 17, 2006	Friday	Shawwal 24, 1427

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SHANGHAI, Nov 16: Defending champion David Nalbandian kept his Masters Cup hopes alive, sent Swiss Roger Federer into the semi-finals and knocked Andy Roddick out with a 6-2 7-6 victory over the American on Thursday.

The Argentine, who improves to 1-2 in round robin matches, defused Roddick's serve to give himself a route into the last four if Federer beats Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic in the later Red Group match.

Under the complicated system to separate players with the same record in the round robin stage of the year-ending tournament, Ljubicic, who was 1-1 in his first two matches, must now beat world number one Federer to go through.

Fifth ranked Roddick, a shadow of the player who came close to upsetting Federer on Tuesday, joins Spain's Tommy Robredo in being eliminated from the tournament after defeat in the first two-set encounter in a tight Red Group.

“Give credit where credit's due, I didn't play badly tonight, I hit the ball through the court ... but he played very well,” said Roddick.

The 24-year-old American started poorly and Nalbandian, no slouch as a returner of the ball at the best of times, pounced on his below-par serves to break in the first game of the match.

“In the beginning I played very good,” said Nalbandian. “I was hitting good shots and got control of the match. He didn't serve so good, that's why I went away.”

Roddick's attempts to get a serve and volley game going were undone by some predictable shot choices and the Argentine's pinpoint passes and it was no surprise when he went a second break down for 4-1.

Four fierce serves in a row to save another break, and the set, put a spring into Roddick's step but the brief rally ended when Nalbandian successfully appealed a wide call at 40-0 down when serving for the set and went on to win the game.

The second set was closer with Roddick getting his ace count up but his approaches to the net were still laboured — he won just nine of 23 net points in the match — and Nalbandian broke him again to lead 4-3.

Roddick broke back when his opponent was serving for the set but it only delayed his defeat as he gave up a 3-1 lead to lose 7-4 in the tiebreak with a series of errors to give Nalbandian his glimmer of hope.

“Now I must wait,” the Argentine said. “Anything can happen, so let's see what happen in the match. From here I can do nothing.”

Federer, champion in 2003 and 2004 and beaten finalist last year, qualifies for the semis for the fifth year in a row after winning his opening two matches.

American James Blake qualified for the last four from Gold Group on Wednesday evening, while world numbers two and three, Rafael Nadal of Spain and Russian Nikolay Davydenko, face off for the final slot in the semis on Friday.

Masters Cup results on Thursday

Singles

David Nalbandian (ARG x7) bt Andy Roddick (USA x5) 6-2, 7-6 (7/4)

Doubles

Martin Damm/Leander Paes (CZE/IND x6) bt Jonathan Erlich/Andy Ram (ISR x7) 6-4, 7-6 (8/6)

Paul Hanley/Kevin Ullyett (AUS/ZIM x4) bt Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan (USA x1) 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4.- Reuters