Nalbandián plays through grief to reach the last four

David Nalbandián qualified for the semi-finals of the Masters Cup almost through the back door when he beat a disbelieving Andy Roddick 6-2, 7-6 yesterday.

Nalbandián - the man Roger Federer fears most - had considered not playing his final round-robin match at all after his godson was killed in an accident. Instead the Argentinian played with a lot of passion.

It means Nalbandián can still reach Sunday's five-set final against Federer and that Roddick, after playing one of the best matches of his life and holding three match-points against Federer, is out. Roddick's press conference was one of apoplexy, climaxed by: "I've done with you", to a question about why the US had not won the Davis Cup for 10 years.

Had Federer subsequently lost to Ivan Ljubicic it would have eliminated Nalbandián but instead, Federer recovered from an early break of serve down to win 7-6, 6-2, putting Roddick out.