Nalbandian, the defending Masters Cup champion, made sure of his inclusion in the eight-man field without hitting a ball when Germany's Tommy Haas beat Blake 6-4, 6-2 here in the Paris Masters third round.

Robredo also reserved his seat on the plane to China with a 6-4, 7-6 (7/1) win over France's Paul-Henri Mathieu.

Nalbandian, absent from the Paris tournament because of a stomach injury, and Robredo, join Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Ivan Ljubicic, Andy Roddick and Nikolay Davydenko as the confirmed starters in China on November 12.

"It's a dream for me to be in the Masters Cup," said the 24-year-old Robredo, the world number seven.

"At the beginning of the year it was my goal. After winning the Hamburg Masters I was nearly sure I would finish the year in the top ten. Then I had another goal: 'Why not try and make the top eight and qualify for the Masters Cup'.

"This is the best year of my life."

Blake now sits in the eighth and final qualifying place but he can be overtaken by Mario Ancic if the Croatian ninth seed wins his quarterfinal on Friday.

Haas, the 10th seeded German, could also still make the China showpiece but he needs to win the Paris title and hope Ancic falls before the final.

Ancic, who picked up his second title of 2006 in St Petersburg last weekend, gave his hopes a huge boost with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over France's Julien Benneteau and will face fourth seed Davydenko in the last eight.

"In St Petersburg, I knew from the first round that I had to keep winning matches," said Ancic.

"I'm really delighted with the way I've been playing."

Haas faces former triple champion Marat Safin who was assured of a quarterfinal spot when French 16th seed Richard Gasquet withdrew from their scheduled third round match-up because of a right thigh injury.

Defending champion Tomas Berdych and Davydenko made quick work of their third round opponents.

Berdych, the eighth-seeded Czech, cruised past America's Robby Ginepri 6-3, 6-3 while Davydenko enjoyed a 6-2, 6-2 win over compatriot Dimitry Tursunov.

Berdych, the surprise 2005 champion, now has an 8-0 record at the tournament and next faces Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia who beat a disappointing Andy Murray of Britain 7-6 (8/6), 6-0.

Davydenko's impressive win should also have guaranteed him a place in the Davis Cup final.

He had been edged out of the singles line-up by the America-based Tursunov in the semifinal victory over the United States.

But his run to a second consecutive last eight place here should see him line up alongside Safin for this year's final against Argentina in Moscow in December.

The 25-year-old Russian, who is chasing his fifth title of 2006, has dropped just four games in two matches this week, spending less than two hours on court.

Russian lucky loser Teimuraz Gabashvili, who replaced the absent Federer in the main draw, wasted a match point and went down to 4-6, 7-6 (8/6), 6-2 defeat at the hands of Finnish 14th seed Jarkko Nieminen.

The Finn will face Robredo in the quarterfinals.