Defending champion David Nalbandian of Argentina and Tommy Robredo from Spain booked places in the Shanghai Masters Cup, but America's James Blake was left sweating on his chances.

Nalbandian, the defending Masters Cup champion, made sure of his inclusion in the eight-man field, without hitting a ball, when Germany's Tommy Haas beat Blake 6-4 6-2 in the Paris Masters third round.

Robredo also reserved his seat on the plane to China with a 6-4 7-6 (7-1) win over France's Paul-Henri Mathieu.

Nalbandian, absent from the tournament with a stomach injury, and Robredo, join Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Ivan Ljubicic, Andy Roddick and Nikolay Davydenko as the confirmed starters in China on November 12.

Blake now sits in the eighth and final qualifying place, but he can be overtaken by ninth seed Mario Ancic, if the Croatian wins his quarter-final tonight (AEDT).

Haas, the 10th seed, could also still make the showpiece, but he needs to win the Paris title and hope Ancic falls before the final.

Ancic gave his Shanghai hopes a huge boost with a 6-3 6-1 victory over France's Julien Benneteau, and will face fourth seed Davydenko in the last eight.

Haas's quickfire, 59-minute win gave him a last-eight match-up with triple champion Marat Safin, who was assured of a quarter-final spot when 16th seed, France's Richard Gasquet withdrew with a thigh injury.

"There's so much talk of Shanghai," said Haas.

"I have to win here. The Shanghai question is starting to get on my nerves a little bit."

Meanwhile, defending champion Tomas Berdych and Davydenko, the highest ranked player in the tournament, made quick work of their third-round opponents.

Czech Berdych, the No.8 seed, cruised past America's Robby Ginepri 6-3 6-3, while Davydenko enjoyed a 6-2 6-2 win over compatriot Dimitry Tursunov.

"It's a nice feeling that I'm still unbeaten here. I have to use that to my advantage for the next match," said the Czech, who will face either Britain's Andy Murray or Dominik Hrbaty from Slovakia.

Davydenko's impressive win should also have guaranteed him a place in the Davis Cup final.

He had been edged out of the singles line-up by the America-based Tursunov in the semi-final victory over the United States. But his run to a second consecutive last-eight place here should see him line up alongside Safin for this year's final with Argentina in Moscow next month.

The 25-year-old, who is chasing his fifth title of 2006, has dropped just four games in two matches this week, spending less than two hours on court.

Russia lucky loser Teimuraz Gabashvili, who replaced the absent Federer in the main draw, wasted a match point and went down 4-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-2 to Finland's Jarkko Nieminen, seeded 14.

He will face Robredo in the quarters.

(AFP November 3, 2006)