10/31/02
Federer, Ferrero Shanghai Bound
Roger Federer and Juan Carlos Ferrero secured their berths to Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai when fellow contender Tim Henman lost his third-round match to Nicolas Escude 6-4, 6-2 Thursday at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris.
"If there's a possibility and I qualify for the Masters, then if all's gone well, I'd still like to play. But once this season is done, I'm going to make sure that I get it right. And having spoken to the doctor, you know, he said this quite possibly can take a couple months. But he did, he certainly stressed that it's worth getting it right," said Henman, who has been plagued by a shoulder injury since Indianapolis.
Henman, who today sits seventh in the ATP Champions Race, will see his hopes end if eighth-place Carlos Moya defeats defending champion Sebastien Grosjean later today. Andy Roddick must reach the final to qualify.
Paris is wild card Escude's career-second quarterfinal of a Tennis Masters Series following Indian Wells last year. The 25-year-old Frenchman, who was out of action between July and September because of an abdominal injury, lost to the Brit in the second round in Basel last week.
"I don't think Tim served very well today. During the tournament in Basel, I was playing very well, but I was leading against him one set and a break in the second set. After, I lost my concentration. Today I keep my concentration from first point to the last point. So that's what make the difference," said the Frenchman.
Thai sensation Paradorn Srichaphan continued his hot streak by defeating No. 16 seed Guillermo Canas 6-1, 6-4 in his second consecutive quarterfinal of a Tennis Masters Series event.
Srichaphan will take on 20-year-old Andy Roddick in Friday's quarterfinals. The American defeated Romanian Andrei Pavel 7-6(5), 6-4 to reach his fourth quarterfinal of a Tennis Masters Series event this year.
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