Roddick Qualifies for Tennis Masters Cup
Andy Roddick reaches SFs in 2003-04. World No. 3 Andy Roddick is the latest player to claim a berth to Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai as Masters Series Madrid begins today. Roddick, who is seeded second in Madrid, is third in the INDESIT ATP 2005 Race. After last week’s tournament results in Moscow, Vienna and Stockholm, Roddick is guaranteed to finish within the Top 7 of the Race and thus qualify for the $4.45 million circuit finale for the third straight year.
Roddick, the 2003 year-end World No. 1, qualified for Tennis Masters Cup Houston in 2003-04, reaching the semifinals on both occasions.
With just three weeks of the regular 2005 ATP circuit remaining, competition for Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai is heating up. Going into Masters Series Madrid, only four singles players are assured of their berths at the spectacular new Qi Zhong stadium, leaving all those in contention fighting for crucial INDESIT ATP 2005 Race points in the coming weeks.
At present, only two-time defending champion and World No. 1 Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Marat Safin and Roddick have qualified for the singles. The remaining four singles spots will be determined by the final five ATP tournaments at Masters Series Madrid, Basel, Lyon, St. Petersburg and the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris.
Among those hoping to make significant strides in Madrid will be Argentine Guillermo Coria, who is sixth in the INDESIT ATP 2005 Race, Russian Nikolay Davydenko (7th), Argentine duo Gaston Gaudio (9th) and Mariano Puerta (10th), Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero (11th), Argentine David Nalbandian (12th) and in-form Croat Ivan Ljubicic (13th), who is making a late charge with back-to-back titles in Metz and Vienna.
Time is running out on the 2005 season as the opening ceremonies for Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai are scheduled for November 12, with play beginning the following day.
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