Blake completes Masters Cup field

PARIS: America's James Blake became the eighth and last Masters Cup qualifier on Saturday when Germany's Tommy Haas, the only player who could have pipped him for a place, was forced to retire from the Paris Masters.   

Haas, who needed to win the Paris title to make sure of his place in the China showpiece, quit when he trailed Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia in the semi-finals 6-4, 1-0.   

Blake joins Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, David Nalbandian, Ivan Ljubicic, Andy Roddick, Nikolay Davydenko and Tommy Robredo in the Shanghai tournament which starts on November 12. Meanwhile, Hrbaty, the 17th seed, will take on fourth-seeded Davydenko for the Paris title on Sunday.   

Hrbaty, who will be playing in his second Masters final after being runner-up in Monte Carlo in 2000, broke Haas to lead 4-3 in the first set before the German battled back immediately to level.   

However the gritty 28-year-old Slovakian then took the opening set in the 10th game, leaving a dejected Haas to request treatment from the trainer at the break.   

He quickly lost the first game of the second set to love and then shook hands with his opponent after only 48 minutes on court.   

Earlier, Davydenko proved there is more to Russian tennis than the glamour of Maria Sharapova and Marat Safin by reaching the Paris final.   

The low-profile Davydenko, the top ranked player in the draw after the no-shows of Federer, Nadal, Nalbandian, Ljubicic and Roddick, beat Spanish sixth seed Tommy Robredo 6-3, 5-7, 6-2.    

"It's a great feeling to be in my first Masters final," said Davydenko who has quietly amassed almost five million dollars in his career but will be playing in his first Masters title match.   

The unheralded Russian, who beat Safin in the Moscow final last month, believes his performances will also erase any doubts over his place in the starting line-up for the Davis Cup final against Argentina next month.   

"I would have played in the semi-final against the United States and I prepared on clay for that tie. But then I got sick and couldn't play," he said.   

"But I am the Russian number one, I've been playing well on indoor courts this year so, if I am fit, I expect to play in the final."   

Davydenko, with four titles under his belt in 2006, has been in impressive form all week here starting his campaign with a 6-0, 6-0 drubbing of Belgium's Christophe Rochus which took barely over 30 minutes.   

Saturday's win was also his 66th of the year, a figure surpassed only by Federer. He was in complete control in the first set carving out a break in the fifth game and was a break ahead in the second set before Robredo, the Hamburg Masters champion, fought back to level the tie.   

But the Russian was soon back in the driving seat, surging into a 3-0 lead in the decider, and he took the tie when Robredo clattered a forehand wide. The Russian sent down 37 winners to his opponent's 24 in their two-hour baseline duel.