World top two players Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer quit from the quarterfinals of the the Paris Masters due to injuries on Friday.
Nadal quit his showdown with world number six Nikolay Davydenko after losing the first set 6-1, while Federer withdrew with a back injury a few hours before his match against American James Blake.
David Nalbandian and French hope Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won to keep up their chances of reaching the Masters Cup in Shanghai.
Eighth-seeded Nalbandian ended the 14-match winning streak of fourth-seeded Andy Murray 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, and Tsonga, the lowest surviving seed at 13th, thrilled the home crowd by outserving Andy Roddick 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5).
In Saturday's semifinals, defending champion Nalbandian meets 2006 champ Davydenko, and Blake will try to stop Tsonga from becoming the first French winner since Sebastien Grosjean in 2001.
(Xinhua News Agency November 1, 2008)