Nadal, Ferrer in Masters Cup semifinals
World No. 2 Rafael Nadal and sixth-seeded David Ferrer on Thursday locked up semifinal berths in the $3.7 million Tennis Masters Cup tournament in Shanghai.
Nadal used a 6-4, 6-4 victory over third-seeded Novak Djokovic to improve to 2-1 in round-robin play. Nadal didn't lose a service game to Djokovic in advancing to Saturday's semifinals.
Ferrer stayed unbeaten through his three Gold Group matches and eliminated the eighth-seeded Richard Gasquet with a 6-1, 6-1 romp that took just 59 minutes Thursday.
Ferrer will meet the second-place finisher from this week's Red Group while Nadal will take on the winner from that group on Saturday.
Those Red Group positions are to be decided Friday when world No. 1 Roger Federer goes against fifth-seeded Andy Roddick and fourth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko meets No. 7 Fernando Gonzalez.
Roddick is 2-0 in group play and is guaranteed a semifinal slot. Federer and Gonzalez are each 1-1 and battling for the other spot. Davydenko, at 0-2, is out of semifinal contention.
The semifinal winners are to play for the tournament championship on Sunday. If either Ferrer or Roddick can complete the week undefeated they would collect more than $1.5 million. // Copyright 2007 by United Press International
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