New York, Sept 07: Quarterfinals made Andy Roddick of the United States and Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero the first players to qualify for the Tennis Masters Cup Houston.
Going into the finals, Roddick, with five titles this season, leads the ATP champions race with 697 points and Ferrero, whose three titles include the French Open, has 664.
They are followed by Switzerland's Roger Federer (629), Andre Agassi (605), Argentina's Guillermo Coria (589), Germany's Rainer Schuettler (477), Spain's Carlos Moya (398) and Argentina's David Nalbandian (358).
The year-end Masters Cup, conducted by the ATP, ITF and grand slams, is set for November 8-16. The event has determined the no. 1 player in the world in each of the last three years.
After reaching the US Open semifinals for the first time in his career, Andy Roddick was asked whether losing in that round would be the worst time to go out of the tournament.



"The worst time to lose," he said, "is the first round."


Bureau Report