Murray steams into semis, Roddick out

8220;It8217;s great,8221; said Murray, who beat American Andy Roddick in his opener. 8220;To beat a couple of top-10 players back-to-back is great. The Masters Cup is obviously a huge, huge competition for all the top players. I8217;ve got a chance of winning it now.8221;

Roger Federer kept his hopes of a fifth Masters Cup title alive with an unconvincing 7-6, 6-4 victory over Radek Stepanek, the world number 27 who replaced Andy Roddick when the American pulled out with an ankle injury earlier in the day.

Defending champion Federer, who said he had been laid low with a stomach upset after losing his opening match to Simon on Monday, started with a break in the first service game but looked well below his best and allowed the Czech back into the match.

The world number two needed a tiebreak to win the first set and was broken when serving for the second, finally clinching his first win of the week when Stepanek double faulted. The 27-year-old must beat Murray in his final group match on Friday to avoid going out of the season-ender at the group stage for the first time.

8220;At the end of the day I still have a chance,8221; said the Swiss. 8220;I hope with a day of recovery, I8217;ll make a miracle happen.8221; Reuters

Paes-Dlouhy lose again

Leander Paes and his Czech partner Lukas Dlouhy lost their second match 7-6 2, 6-3 to Polish pair Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski.