PARIS, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- Argentina's David Nalbandian Thursday again beat world No. 1 Roger Federer, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) in the third round of the Masters Cup tournament in Paris.
It was Nalbandian's second straight victory against the Swiss great in 10 days after his 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory in the title match of the Open de Madrid Oct. 21.
In other action, second-seeded Rafael Nadal easily beat Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka 6-4, 6-3; unseeded Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus ousted fourth-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko 6-2, 6-2; sixth-seeded American James Blake dropped a 6-4, 6-4 decision to 10th-seeded Richard Gasquet of France; eighth-seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo topped No. 11 seed Guillermo Canas of Argentina 7-5, 7-5; 15th-seeded Andy Murray of Scotland beat unseeded Frenchman Fabrice Santoro 6-4, 6-2; and fifth-seeded David Ferrer of Spain trounced 12th-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-2.
Their losses mean neither Blake nor Berdych will qualify for the for the season-ending championship tournament at Shanghai. Blake was a finalist last season.
