Federer faultless with 3-0 record to reach Shanghai semis

By Bill Scott Nov 16, 2006, 17:58 GMT

Shanghai - Roger Federer and defending champion David Nalbandian booked a pair of semi-final places at the Masters Cup on Friday to leave just one place still open in weekend knockout play.

World number 1 Federer completed his fifth edition of round-robin play at a season wrapup event without a loss, improving his record in group competition to 15-0.

The Swiss won his eighth straight match over Croatian Ivan Ljubicic 7-6 (7-2), 6-4.

Nalbandian put out American Andy Roddick 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) in the Red group and then had to wait for Federer to come through to insure his place in the weekend field.

Frustrated American Roddick, who could not nose out the victory with 18 aces, was eliminated, his earliest loss at the season-ender in three participations.

Nalbandian came to the court with two losses and grieving over the tragic death this week of his nine-year-old godson in Argentine in an elevator accident.

Federer closed out victory with his seventh ace to move to 11-3 over Ljubicic. The Swiss finished the group stage with a perfect 3-0 record.

'I only knew vive minutes before the match that I had qualified,' said Federer. 'Maybe that's why I got broken in the first game. It took some time to realise that I was out there again playing.

'But I really wanted to keep my fantastic streak alive. I'm happy I came through. It gives me confidence for the semis.'

Roddick was eliminated but was not depressed over a season which he turned around in with a second-half surge.

'It's a downer, don't get me wrong. But I can still take a lot of positives away from the last four months of the year,' said the former number 1.

'People were questioning if I would ever play top level tennis again.

'I can choose to look at the negatives going into next year; I can choose to look at the positives. Fortunately, the last half of the year there were a lot more positives than negatives,' said the player now advised by Jimmy Connors.

But Roddick, a 2003 and 2004 semi-finalist in Houston, leaves for the first time before the knockout stage

Nalbandian put aside his sorrow to earn the win and keep his chances alive in the event he won last year in five sets over Federer.

'I played well in the beginning and got off to a fast start,' said the Argentine. 'I took control of the match.

'He didn't seem to wake up until the second set, so I took advantage. But I was nervous when I was serving for the win.

'Andy put on some pressure then and lifted his game. I played a god tiebreak after his mini-break. I played well, but this was not an easy win.'

Nalbandian overcame 18 aces from Roddick, who committed his lone double-fault in the tiebreaker to hand Nalbandian 5-3 in the tiebreaker.

The Argentine smashed an overhead two points later to earn a pair of match points converting on the first.