Nalbandian Pulls from Masters Paris

With still days to recover after losing Friday at Basel, Argentine David Nalbandian must feel confident of qualifying for the year-end Masters Cup as Saturday he pulled from the final regular-season event of the ATP calendar at the Masters Series-Paris citing a stomach illness.

Four players have secured positions at the year-end championship in Shanghai in Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Ivan Ljubicic and Andy Roddick. Ljubicic and Roddick have subsequently bowed out of Paris, as has Marcos Baghdatis with injury.

Nikolay Davydenko and Nalbandian are next in line for the four remaining Masters Cup spots, and also in contention are Fernando Gonzalez, James Blake, Tommy Robredo, and Mario Ancic.