Federer and Nadal pull out -injured from Paris

TENNIS: PARIS, Nov. 1 - Hopes of a dream final between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer were dashed on Friday when the top two seeds pulled out injured from their quarter-final matches at the Paris Masters.

Federer withdrew with a back injury a few hours before his match against American James Blake, while Nadal quit his showdown with world number six Nikolay Davydenko after losing the first set 6-1.

Wimbledon champion Nadal had the trainer massaging his right thigh and knee at the change of ends when trailing 4-1 and threw in the towel two games later.

The duo's exit left the tournament without any of its top four seeds after number three Novak Djokovic was beaten earlier in the week while fourth-ranked Andy Murray also perished on Friday, going down 7-6 6-3 to an inspired David Nalbandian.

Argentina's Nalbandian kept his Masters Cup hopes alive when he ended Murray's 14-match winning streak in the most spectacular match of the tournament and will meet Davydenko in the last four on Saturday.

Nalbandian, 14th in the ATP Race, will qualify for the season-ending tournament if he retains his Paris title.

He was, however, reluctant to say if he would take part in the season-ending tournament he won in 2005.

"It's not my goal. I'm not thinking about Shanghai because we have the Davis Cup right after, so that's why," he said. Reuters