few spots left IN MASTERS

Safin, Henman fall; Moya into Houston
Zvonareva loses again; Serena a near lock for LA

By Matthew Cronin, TennisReporters.net

Fred Mullane/Camerawork USA

Moya is a master again with his entry into the Tennis Masters Cup in Houston.

Carlos Moya will return to the Tennis Masters Cup Houston next month after (believe it or not) Andre Agassi and David Nalbandian were drawn in the same half in TMS Paris, which begin on Monday.

There was only scenario in which both Agassi and Nalbandian could have passed fourth-placed Moya in the INDESIT ATP Race – and possibly deny him a Houston berth – was for Agassi and Nalbandian to reach the finals of their respective events in Stockholm and Basel this week, and for Agassi and Nalbandian to advance to the Paris final, which is no longer possible. Both Agassi and Nalbandian have reached the semis of the their respective tournaments.

Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt, Gaston Gaudio and Moya have now qualified for Houston, leaving only three spots left.

The fight for remaining spots will be determined in Paris. Fifth-placed Guillermo Coria withdrew from Paris due to injury, putting his Houston chances at serious risk. The Argentine leads Marat Safin by just eight points, who fell in the St. Petersburg quarters to Michael Llodra on Friday. Tim Henman took a tough three-set loss to Jiri Novak in Basel and is 14 points behind Safin. Safin will secure a Houston berth if he Paris Masters; while Henman will qualify if he reaches the quarters. Agassi has a terrific shot at Houston if he wins Stockholm.

Tennis Angels

Alina Jidkova

Ron Cioffi/ TR.net

Nadia Petrova

Vera Goes Down to Jankovic
While it has yet to be publicized, with Vera Zvonareva 6-4, 6-4 loss to Jelena Jankovic in the Linz quarters, Serena Williams has all but sewn up a spot in the season-ending WTA Championships. Had Zvonareva gone deeper in Linz, say to the final, she still had a mathematical chance to scrape past Serena. But she’s approximately 326 points behind Williams and can’t really hope to make up the ground in Philly.

The Russian still has a shot at the eighth and final spot in the Porsche Race, but will go into Philadelphia trailing both Venus Williams and Jennifer Capriati, who aren’t playing this week The 20-year-old Zvonareva has had a slew of opportunities to qualify this fall, but has come up short nearly ever week.

Since the Philly draw hasn’t come out yet, it’s still conceivable that Serena could get knocked out, but it would take a mathematical miracle, whereby two out of threesome of Venus, Capriati and Zvonareva reach the finals and beat a slew of high-ranked players along the way. It’s not going to happen, unless Serena develops another migraine.

On to the rankings, where it looks like either No. 1 Lindsay Davenport and No. 2 Amelie Mauresmo will end the year at No. 1, with No. 3 Anastasia Myskina having an outside shot. Myskina is pretty much going to have to win Philly and the WTA Championships to grab the final spot and hope the other two falter. She’s currently 560 points behind Davenport, who has still only played 16 tournaments out of the 17 counted in the rankings. Myskina is some 400 points behind Mauresmo (and will fall further behind on Monday).

The Frenchwoman is playing her 17th event this week in Linz and blitzed Ai Sugiyama in the quarters on Friday. Nadia Petrova still has a prayer to reach LA and beat dubs partner Meghann Shaughnessy 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. Elena Bovina stopped qualifier and fellow Russian Alina Jidkova fine run in a 6-7 (3), 6-2, 3-0 win when Jidkova retired with a thigh strain. Jidkova had upset Serena. For more on Jidkova, visit tennisangels.com.