By Patrick Vignal

David Nalbandian and Tommy Robredo won tickets to the Masters Cup on an eventful day at the Paris Masters on Thursday.

Missing the French tournament through gastroenteritis did not stop Argentinian Nalbandian, who beat world number one Roger Federer in last year's final, from securing another trip to Shanghai. The 2002 Wimbledon runner-up qualified for the year-end event featuring the top eight players in the ATP Race after German Tommy Haas beat American James Blake 6-4, 6-2 in the third round in Paris.

Robredo secured his Masters Cup berth by beating local favourite Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4, 7-6 to advance to the quarter-finals. The sixth-seeded Spaniard goes on to meet Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen, seeded 14th, who ended the run of Russian lucky loser Teimuraz Gabashvili with a 4-6, 7-6, 6-2 win.

Nalbandian and Robredo join Federer, Rafael Nadal, Ivan Ljubicic, Andy Roddick and Nikolay Davydenko in the Shanghai field. Three players - Blake, Mario Ancic and Haas - remain in contention for the last spot for the tournament, which begins on November 12. On a sad day for the home fans, French number one Richard Gasquet pulled out injured - a further blow to the depleted event.

Gasquet, seeded 16th, withdrew before his scheduled third-round match against Russian Marat Safin because of a torn right thigh muscle. His injury, combined with defeats by Mathieu and Julien Benneteau, who was crushed 6-3, 6-1 by ninth-seed Ancic, ended French presence in the tournament.

Former world number one Safin, dreaming of a fourth triumph here after winning in 2000, 2002 and 2004, will now meet Haas, while Ancic faces a tough task against Davydenko, who demolished fellow Russian Dmitry Tursunov 6-2, 6-2. World number five Davydenko is the highest-ranked player in the event after a string of no-shows. "I'm playing really well and feeling confident. But the next match could be tough," said the 25-year-old Russian, who had humiliated Belgian Christophe Rochus 6-0 6-0 in the previous round.

Defending champion Tomas Berdych, seeded eighth, also advanced easily, beating American Robby Ginepri 6-3 6-3. The 21-year-old Czech won the tournament on his first appearance at the Bercy hall last year. "To have never lost a match here is a nice feeling," he said. "Let's hope it continues." Berdych's next match will be against Slovakian’s Dominik Hrbaty, who beat British number one Andy Murray 7-6, 6-0 in late action. Murray fought back from a break down in the first set to force a tiebreak, which Hrbaty won 8-6, and collapsed after that.