Roger makes Masters Cup semifinals

Defending champion Federer has qualified for the semifinals of the ATP Masters Cup in Shanghai--and without having to win his match against Andy Roddick.

But he has Nikolay Davydenko to thank. The Russian has just defeated Fernando Gonzalez in straight sets to eliminate the Chilean from the year-end championships and send both Roddick and Federer into the semifinals. (A naughty thought: perhaps Davydenko was bribed to win the match?)

One thing that is at stake however is the top spot of the Red Group. The winner of this last round-robin match will determine who will meet Rafael Nadal in the semifinals while the loser will go up against David Ferrer who won the Gold Group.

For sure Roddick will also want to break his ten-match losing streak to the world number one. On the other hand, Federer will naturally not just want to maintain his 14-1 dominance over the American number one but also earn a second round-robin win in this year's Masters Cup.