Davydenko moves into Paris Masters quarters

PARIS: Nikolay Davydenko brushed aside Russian compatriot Dimitry Tursunov 6-2, 6-2 to reach the Paris Masters quarter-finals on Thursday and almost guarantee himself a place in the Davis Cup final.   

Fourth seed Davydenko had been edged out of the singles line-up by the America-based Tursunov in the semi-final victory over the United States.   

But his run to a second consecutive last eight place here should see him line up alongside Marat Safin for the Davis Cup final against Argentina in Moscow in December.   

Davydenko will now face either Croatian ninth seed Mario Ancic or unseeded Frenchman Julien Benneteau for a place in the semi-finals.   

Later Thursday the fight to grab the three remaining places at the season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai continues.   

Spanish sixth seed Tommy Robredo faces France's Paul-Henri Mathieu while James Blake, the American seventh seed, takes on German 10th seed Tommy Haas.   

Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Ivan Ljubicic, Andy Roddick, who are not playing this week, and Davydenko have already made sure of their places in the China event which starts on November 12.   

Argentina's David Nalbandian, currently sitting sixth in the race to grab one of the places in the eight-man field, is sitting out Paris with a stomach injury.