Who will qualify for Shanghai 2006?: Update

Calendar:   Madrid   >>  Basel/St. Petersburg/Lyon   >>    Paris    >>     Shanghai

UPDATED NOVEMBER 4  Blake takes the eighth and last spot when Haas loses in the semifinals of Paris. Ancic is next in if someone pulls out.

UPDATED NOVEMBER 3 Ancic's loss to Davydenko puts him out of the running for the top eight. Blake will qualify unless Haas wins Paris.

UPDATED NOVEMBER 2   Nalbandian qualifies when Blake loses in the third round of Paris. Robredo qualifies by winning his third-round match in Paris. Ancic should qualify if he can defeat Davydenko in the quarterfinals, otherwise it will likely be Blake taking the last spot. Haas can upset the scenario only if he wins the event and Ancic loses in the semfinals.

UPDATED NOVEMBER 1    Gonzalez finally runs out of gas and out of contention for a top eight spot when he loses to Benneteau in Paris. Blake and Robredo's wins on Wednesday also put a top eight spot out of reach for Berdych.

UPDATED OCTOBER 29   Davydenko qualifies when Nalbandian withdraws and Gonzalez and Ancic get drawn to face each other in the third round of Paris. The combination means Davydenko cannot end up out of the top eight.

UPDATED OCTOBER 26 Baghdatis' withdrawal from Paris puts him out of the running for the top eight. Ljubicic and Roddick, both now officially qualified, pull out of Paris, leaving more opportunities for the rest of the field.

By the end of Wimbledon, two players – Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal – had already locked up their spots at the season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai. But it took until three weeks before Shanghai for another player to officially join them.

This year's unusually open race was at least partly due to Federer and Nadal dominating nearly the whole year between them, leaving slim pickings for the rest of the field. But the qualifications have come in thick and fast since the end of the  Masters Series Madrid.

OFFICIALLY QUALIFIED

• Roger Federer just won his 10th title of the year in Madrid, becoming the first player to post double-digit title wins for three straight years. He'll be the heavy favorite in Shanghai, having pulled clear of the rest of the field in the second half of the year. The biggest worry for the Federer Express might be derailment in the form of fatigue or injury – if he plays both his hometown event in Basel and the Masters Series in Paris as scheduled, he'll be going into Shanghai having played three of the last four weeks.

• Rafael Nadal has had a disappointing second half of the year after his incredible run from Dubai to Wimbledon, having lost in the quarterfinals or earlier of every tournament since July. He doesn't have to worry about qualifying, but could use a few big wins to boost his confidence going into the event.

• Ivan Ljubicic and Andy Roddick both pulled out of Paris to rest up for Shanghai.

• Nikolay Davydenko is in because David Nalbandian cannot overtake him (because he isn't playing Paris), and only one of Gonzalez and Ancic could – they play each other in the third round, meaning that at least one of them will be out before the quaterfinals.

• David Nalbandian qualified when James Blake lost to Tommy Haas in Paris

• Tommy Robredo  qualified by outlasting Blake in Paris.

• James Blake took the last spot in the top eight when both Ancic and Haas couldn't win enough matches in Paris to overtake him.

NEED WITHDRAWALS

Mario Ancic put himself out of contention for the top eight spot after losing in the quarterfinals of Paris, but he's next in if someone pulls out.

Fernando Gonzalez had reached three finals in the last three weeks coming into Paris and ran out of gas too early to grab one of the eight qualifying spots.

Tommy Haas came unexpectedly close with his unexpected run to the Paris semifinals, but ended up two wins short of the title. Had Haas won Paris, he would have taken Blake's spot.

Coming into Paris, Tomas Berdych had a chance to move into the top eight if he won the Paris title, but the players ahead of him extended their leads out during thr week and left him with no chance. Ulitmately, the defneding champion lost in the Paris quaterfinals anyway.

Pulling out of Paris ended Marcos Baghdatis' chances. David Ferrer lost too early.

Lleyton Hewitt ruled himself out when made it known that he would not be playing again this year because of a knee injury. The rest of the contenders going into the fall season – Andy Murray,Novak Djokovic, and Jarrko Nieminen – just couldn't find the results to give themselves a chance.

The calculations and projections in this story are unofficial and may use forward-looking information that can be affected or changed by future events.