U.S. Open champion Roger Federer and
U.S. Open runner-up Andy Murray posted round-robin wins, while former world
No. 1 Andy Roddick pulled out of his scheduled match against Federer at the
$4.45 million Tennis Masters Cup. Murray qualified for the semifinals with his
victory on Wednesday.
The top-seeded and two-time defending Masters Cup champion Federer was
scheduled to battle the fifth-seeded Roddick on Day 4 here, but Roddick (0-1)
pulled out of this week's four-player Red Group due to an ankle injury. The
big-serving American was replaced in the field by 27th-ranked alternate Radek
Stepanek of the Czech Republic.
Roddick sustained the injury while practicing here on Tuesday.
"When I was doing a warm-up drill in practice I just went over on it," Roddick
said. "We tried as much as we could to get it better."
The former U.S. Open champion Roddick, who lost to Murray here on Monday, is
now done for 2008 and will return to ATP action in January. The American star
went 49-18 this season, including three titles.
The 13-time major titlist Federer snuck past the veteran Stepanek 7-6 (7-4),
6-4 on the indoor hardcourt at Qi Zhong Stadium. The Swiss needed 1 hour, 41
minutes to prevail, which he did with the help of three service breaks,
compared to two for the Czech loser (0-1).
Federer is now 7-2 lifetime against Stepanek, including 3-1 this year. The
Czech stunned the Swiss in Rome back in May.
The four-time overall Masters Cup titlist Federer is now 1-1 this week and
will meet the third-seeded Murray here on Friday with a possible trip to the
semifinals at stake for the former top-ranked superstar. It will mark a
rematch of September's U.S. Open finale, which was won by Federer.
Murray is 3-2 lifetime against Federer, including a 2-1 record this season.
The reigning five-time U.S. Open champion Federer beat Spain's David Ferrer in
last year's Masters Cup final. The Swiss great is the only former Masters
Cup champ in this year's field.
Also on Wednesday, the high-flying Murray mauled eighth-seeded Frenchman
Gilles Simon 6-4, 6-2 in 1 hour, 33 minutes to move to a perfect 2-0 in the
Red Group. Simon (1-1) shocked Federer here on Monday.
Murray broke Simon's serve on four occasions on Wednesday, while the
overmatched Frenchman settled for only one break in defeat. The Brit is now
3-0 against Simon this year.
The red-hot 21-year-old Murray has won 16 of his last 17 matches overall,
including some titles in St. Petersburg and Madrid.
On Thursday, second-seeded Serbian Novak Djokovic (2-0) will face sixth-seeded
Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (0-2) and fourth-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko
(1-1) will tangle with seventh-seeded Argentine Juan Martin del Potro (1-1) in
some Gold Group action. Djokovic beat Tsonga in the Australian Open final way
back in January.
Djokovic has already qualified for Saturday's semifinals, while Davydenko-del
Potro will decide the other final-four combatant from the Gold Group. Tsonga
has already been eliminated from semifinal contention.
Davydenko and del Potro have split two career matchups, with the Argentine
winning their lone meeting this year, in the Davis Cup semifinals.
Murray, Tsonga, del Potro and Simon are all making their Masters Cup debuts
this week.
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