Andy Roddick was eliminated from the Masters Cup by defending champion David Nalbandian 6-2, 7-6 (4) on Thursday, with the result allowing Roger Federer to advance to the semifinals of the US$4.45-million round-robin tournament.
The top-ranked Federer later beat Ivan Ljubicic 7-6 (2), 6-4 _ extending his winning streak to 27 and improving to 15-0 in Masters Cup round-robin matches.
Federer, broken in the opening game, closed with an ace after breaking fourth-ranked Ljubicic once in each set. He enters the Masters Cup semifinals for the fifth consecutive year, and is chasing his third title at the season-ending tournament.
Nalbandian, who upset Federer to win last year's Masters Cup, said it was difficult to enjoy the win after learning that a young relative had died in an accident in Argentina.
``It was terrible (but) I can do nothing from here,'' he said. ``I try to push as hard as I can on the court.''
The night started poorly for Roddick, who was broken in the opening game and again in his third service game.
Nalbandian kept up the pressure in the second, breaking Roddick in the seventh game on consecutive errors by the American. But Roddick evened it at 5-5 after getting breakpoint on the 24-year-old Argentine's double-fault.
In the tiebreaker, Roddick got a mini-break to go ahead 3-1 but Nalbandian rallied and pulled even when he smacked a backhand winner crosscourt.
Roddick made his only double-fault at a crucial time, giving Nalbandian a 5-3 lead.
Nalbandian set up match point with an overhead winner and closed when Roddick netted a return.
Roddick was philosophical about ending the season on two losses after climbing back into the Top 10 since Wimbledon. He was only one serve away from victory against Federer in an early round match.
``I think two nights ago was a little bit more emotionally taxing than tonight,'' he said. ``It's a downer, don't get me wrong, but I can still take a lot of positives away from the last four months.
``Let's put it in perspective. Going into the summer, I think I was 18th in the champions race with people questioning if I would ever play top-level tennis again _ I righted that.''
Roddick's first serve percentage was 77 per cent, and he won 70 per cent of points on those and fired 18 aces. But Nalbandian picked off Roddick's second serve, winning 12 of the 16 points.
In the doubles, top-ranked U.S. pair Bob and Mike Bryan missed out on a semifinal spot after losing to Paul Hanley of Australia and Zimbabwe's Kevin Ullyett 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4.
The Bryans, assured of the year-end No. 1 ranking, finished with a 1-2 record in round-robin play.
Hanley and Ullyett were undefeated in the Red Group, while Martin Damm and Leander Paes advanced following a 6-4, 7-6 (6) win over Israeli pair Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram.
Three pairs finished with 1-2 records, with Damm-Paes advancing on the better sets record.
© The Canadian Press, 2007
