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Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from the Paris Masters to focus on the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals and Davis Cup final.

The second-ranked Nadal says on his Facebook page the decision to pull out of next weeks event at Bercy was necessary “to prepare well for the end of this season and also for 2012.”

The Spaniard has not played since losing to the 23rd-ranked Florian Mayer in the second round in Shanghai three weeks ago.

Nadal is one of five players already qualified for the season-ending Nov. 20-27 tournament in London, which features the years top eight players.

The French Open champion also is expected to play for Spain against Argentina in the Dec. 2-4 Davis Cup final.

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Top-seeded David Ferrer beat Canadian qualifier Vasek Pospisil 6-3, 6-3 on Wednesday to reach the Valencia Open quarterfinals.

Gael Monfils, the third seed, joined the defending champion in the final eight, hitting 10 aces in 6-2, 7-6 (5) win over Pablo Andujar of Spain. No. 6 Juan Martin Del Potro also had 10 aces in overwhelming Dmitry Tursunov of Russia 6-4, 6-1 to reach the second round.

American Alex Bogomolov Jr. rallied to knock No. 8 Spaniard Feliciano Lopez out of the tournament 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2).

Del Potro and Monfils maintained their pursuits of a place at the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London with the victories. They each got help when ninth-ranked Nicolas Almagro lost his first-round match a day earlier.

“Thats not in my thinking right now. Mathematically Im the one whos furthest away from those who have a chance and Im aware of that,” said the 15th-ranked Del Potro, who added he would not go to London as an alternate either.

“My goal is to keep improving and reach my ultimate level,” said Del Potro, who dropped only 13 points on serve in his match.

Fifth-ranked Ferrer was hardly troubled for the second straight day as he saved five of six break chances and converted four himself, including the lone break of the second set to advance at the City of Arts and Sciences. Ferrer plays Nikolay Davydenko next after the Russian earned a walkover into the quarterfinals after Nicolas Mahut pulled out.

It was a tough day for Canadian players as Milos Raonic bowed out after a 6-4, 6-4 first round loss to Croatias Marian Cilic. Break points were hard to come by as Cilic saved his serve twice and broke Raonic a pair of times to win it.

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Roger Federer advanced to the quarterfinals and Andy Murray withdrew because of an injury just before his first-round match at the Swiss Indoors on Wednesday.

Andy Roddick also advanced, using his serve to beat Tommy Haas of Germany 6-3, 6-4 in the late match. The seventh-seeded American had 12 aces and never allowed Haas a break point chance.

Federer, defending champion at his hometown event, dropped a set against Jarkko Nieminen of Finland for the first time in their 12 matches but came through 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.

“It was still a good match, I thought, for me to come through,” said Federer, who is playing his tournament since the U.S. Open and served three straight double faults when broken in the second set. “It was due to my ups and downs that he got a chance.”

Murrays injury left the third-seeded Swiss a clearer path to a possible final against top-ranked Novak Djokovic for a third straight year.

“I never saw [Murray] as a potential opponent anyway because Im too focused on what I have to do,” Federer said. “I am sure it is somewhat disappointing for the tournament director after going through all the headaches with the wild cards.”

The second-seeded Murray of Scotland, who requested a late entry last week, pulled out of his match just before playing Robin Haase of the Netherlands because of a gluteal muscle strain. Murray had also been scheduled to pair up with brother Jamie in an evening doubles match.

Five of the current top-eight men were lined up in a tough main draw, but only Federer and Djokovic remain. Murray followed Mardy Fish of the United States in succumbing to injury, and Czech Tomas Berdych was ousted Tuesday by wild-card entry Kei Nishikori.

No. 6 Janko Tipsarevic, like Fish on Tuesday, was hurt in his first-round match and retired.

Tipsarevic retired on serve while trailing Florian Mayer of Germany 5-1 in the first set. The Serb will have to reach at least the final in Paris next week if hes to qualify for the eight-man ATP World Tour Finals in London.

Roddick next plays Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic, who won 6-1, 6-3 against Santiago Giraldo of Colombia.

Murrays place in the singles draw was taken by lucky loser Marco Chiudinelli, a childhood friend of Federer, who lost 6-2, 7-6 (7) to Haase.

In a first-round match between two qualifiers, Lukasz Kubot of Poland beat Tobias Kamke of Germany, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2. The 61st-ranked Kubot will face Djokovic in the second round on Thursday.

Marcos Baghdatis advanced to the quarterfinals by defeating 327th-ranked Swiss qualifier Michael Lammer 7-6 (2), 6-7 (2), 6-3. The Cypriot is a likely crowd pleasing matchup for Djokovic on Friday.

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Jo-Wilfried Tsonga rallied from a set and a break down to defeat Juan Martin Del Potro 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4 Sunday in the final of the Erste Bank Open, claiming his second title of the season and seventh overall.

The top-seeded Tsonga will officially move past Mardy Fish to No. 7 in the 2011 points list on Monday. The top eight will qualify for the season-ending ATP finals in London next month.

“It was really difficult, Juan Martin played great until in the second set,” said Tsonga, who beat Del Potro for the first time in four career meetings. “I was a bit down after losing that tiebreaker but I didnt give away any easy points afterward.”

The second-seeded Del Potro, who is now 9-4 in career finals, is still waiting for his first victory at an indoor event. The Argentine will climb to 11th on the points list, leaving him with a slim chance of reaching the London event.

Both players held serve in the opening set until the tiebreaker. Tsonga was 0-40 down in his opening service game but used four aces to hold. He then missed three chances to break Del Potros serve at 4-4.

In the tiebreaker, the Frenchman handed Del Potro a first set point by double-faulting at 5-5 and then hit a forehand long in the next rally.

Del Potro used his first break ball to go 2-1 up in the second set but Tsonga responded by winning four straight games and closed out the set with an ace.

Del Potro hit a forehand wide on the only break point in the final set before Tsonga wrapped up victory with an approach shot that wrong-footed the 2009 U.S. Open champion.

It was the 12th ATP final this season that featured the top two seeds, but only the fifth time the No. 1 actually won the title.

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Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova won her first WTA Championships title on Sunday, beating Victoria Azarenka 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 for a victory that will also put her at No. 2 in the world rankings.

Kvitova raced to a 5-0 lead in the first set, but Azarenka rallied to level it at 5-5. The Czech player finally converted her fifth set point when Azarenkas forehand sailed out.

Azarenka settled into a consistent baseline game in the second set and clinched it with a forehand winner on the line. Kvitova saved three break points in the first game of the final set and then broke to take the early lead.

Kvitova started the year outside the top 30 and was playing in the season-ending tournament for the first time.

“Its unbelievable to play here,” said Kvitova, who beat Azarenka in the Wimbledon semifinals on her way to winning her first Grand Slam title this year.

Kvitova has won six titles this year, the same number as No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki and twice as many as Azarenka.

“I didnt expect that I would be sitting here as a champion. Its really a big step for me,” Kvitova said.

She attributed her achievements this year to improvements not only in her game, but also in fitness and mental strength. Staying healthy was key, along with the support of coach David Kotyza and the rest of her team.

“Its hard to lose but Im glad I lost to such a champion,” Azarenka said during the awards ceremony. “I gave it all today.”

Azarenka said Kvitova started well, catching her “off guard.”

“She has a really big serve,” the Belarusian said. “In the important moments, its really saving her … I could break her more often.”

The Czech holds a 4-2 head-to-head record over Azarenka, who was playing in the championships for the third time and will return to a career-high No. 3 in the new rankings by reaching the final. It was the first time she advanced beyond the round-robin stage.

Both players will overtake Maria Sharapova, who had a chance to surpass Wozniacki as No. 1 going into the tournament, but withdrew with an ankle injury after losing her first two group-stage matches.

Kvitova took home $1.75 million and Azarenka collected $775,000.

About 13,700 spectators watched the final, continuing a high attendance level for the weeklong tournament for the top eight players in the world. Turkey does not have a strong tennis tradition, but low ticket prices and heavy government support boosted the event, which was held in Istanbul for the first time.

WTA chief executive Stacey Allaster said the high turnout invited comparisons to the “glory days” of the event, when it was held at Madison Square Garden in New York City decades ago.

Istanbuls ability to host the tournament was seen as integral to the national campaign to host the 2020 Olympics. The sprawling city of more than 13 million has built or renovated major stadiums, and officials seek to alleviate the citys heavy traffic congestion.

“The best way to go to the Olympics or to bid [for the] Olympics is to show that you are good in organizing great events,” said Francesco Ricci Bitti, president of the International Tennis Federation and a member of the International Olympic Committee.

Before the final, an announcer asked the crowd not to smoke, a request that would not be necessary at more established tennis venues around the world. The fans, though, displayed an affinity for the game, applauding at key moments or when a momentum shift was imminent.

“Azarenka, We love your scream,” read a poster held up by one fan. Azarenka exhales loudly when she hits the ball.

Greek chair umpire Eva Asderaki announced the score in Turkish and then English.

Last month, Serena Williams was cited for a code violation and fined $2,000 for verbally abusing Asderaki during her loss to Samantha Stosur in the U.S. Open final.

Azarenka said she will fly to Belarus on Monday for three weeks of vacation, and she also plans to attend a Rihanna concert in Switzerland. Kvitova has more work ahead, leading the Czech Republic in its first Fed Cup final in more than 20 years, playing Russia in Moscow.

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Australias Samantha Stosur beat Chinas Li Na 6-1, 6-0 Friday to qualify for the semifinals of the WTA Championships.

Stosur, the U.S. Open champion, dominated the French Open winner, dropping only the fifth game of the first set as she extended her career record against Li to 6-0.

Stosur joined Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in qualifying from the White Group and will next face Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic.

Kvitova had already secured her place in the semis from the Red Group before she beat Polands Agnieszka Radwanska 7-6 (4), 6-3 later Friday. Radwanskas failure to win a set meant Vera Zvonareva of Russia will join Kvitova in the semifinals.

Stosur said she wanted to redeem herself after losing 6-2, 6-2 to Azarenka on Wednesday.

“This was a really good turnaround from the match two nights ago,” she said. “I played really well from start to finish.”

Top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki was eliminated Thursday.

Li reached the Australian Open final in January and became the first Asian player to win a Grand Slam title when she won the French Open in June. She has won only seven matches since.

“Was up, down, up, down,” Li said of her season. “Beginning of the year was like fantastic. And after Roland Garros, I think I didnt win many matches.

“I mean, up and down all the year, so I wish I could do the same level for next year.”

Kvitova was looking forward to a second meeting this year with Stosur after beating her 7-6 (5), 6-3 at the Australian Open.

“The first set was very close,” Kvitova said of their third-round contest in January. “It will be great match hopefully again for the people and for us. We know each other. Shes playing a little bit like me, so she has a big serve.

“I have to be focused on serve and return, for sure.”

Despite knowing what it would take to earn a place in the semifinals, Radwanska said she could not cope with Kvitovas aggressive style.

“Even when I was 5-1 up in the first set, to be honest, I didnt feel I was close to win the set,” she said. “She start to play unbelievable … hitting the ball very hard.”

Summing up, Radwanska added: “I was trying my best today, but, you know, she was just playing too good in the important moments, I guess.”

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Second-seeded Janko Tipsarevic will take on seventh-seeded Alex Bogomolov Jr. in the semifinals of the St. Petersburg Open after both men maintained their good form in Russia on Friday.

The other semifinal will feature fourth-seeded Marin Cilic against the 2004 winner Mikhail Youzhny, seeded fifth.

In Fridays quarterfinals, Tipsarevic, who won his second title at the Kremlin Cup on Sunday, rallied to beat Potito Starace 6-7 (6), 6-2, 6-1, while Bogomolov, who reached the quarterfinals in Moscow, beat Serbian qualifier Dusan Lajovic 6-2, 6-1.

“I havent played Tipsarevic for a long time,” said Bogomolov, who beat him in three sets in Tokyo in 2004. “But I do not expect any surprises from him tomorrow.”

Later, Cilic advanced to his third semifinal this season after rallying to beat Andreas Seppi 4-6, 7-6 (8), 6-4, and Youzhny made it into his fourth semifinal with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Adrian Mannarino.

“He [Youzhny] is a tough player for me to play, but this year we are 1-1 and had tight matches,” said Cilic, who is 5-1 down against the Russian. “I think, its important for me to keep pushing myself and try to play tomorrow really good.”

Youzhny won four consecutive games in the first set and was leading 5-2 in the second. Mannarino saved two match points on his serve before Youzhny served the match out with a winner on his first match point.

Seppi, who won his first title in Eastbourne, England, in June, broke twice in the first set, but Cilic saved a match point on a second-set tiebreaker with an ace and converted a set point to stay in the match. The 22nd-ranked Croat broke decisively in the ninth game of the third set and fired his 13th ace of the match to finish it in the next game.

“I think, Seppi has played one of the best matches Ive ever played against him,” Cilic said. “He was serving really high percentage of the first serve and I wasnt getting any chances to break him. Toward the end of the match I was getting better and my serve helped me in the end.”

Cilic advanced to the final three times from nine quarterfinals he has reached this season, but is yet to win.

Starace won four straight points in the tiebreaker to take the first set but the 13th-ranked Tipsarevic reeled off four consecutive games in the second set and five more in the third to secure his eighth semifinal appearance this season.

“The problem [in the first set] was that I didnt use my chances. I had two set points in the tiebreak if you dont score the other guy is going to score. But then in the second set, when I made the break at 3-2 to 4-2, everything changed, I started feeling more relaxed and the match finished pretty fast.”

Tipsarevic landed 12 aces in the match and is 7-2 in quarterfinals this season.

Bogomolov, still looking for his first ATP title, broke Lajovic twice in the first set and three times in the second for his second consecutive victory over the 228th-ranked Serb.

The Russian-born American also beat Lajovic in the first round at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow last week. Lajovic was playing in his first ATP quarterfinal.

It is the second time this year that Bogomolov has reached a semifinal. He also made the final four in Los Angeles in June.

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Top-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga advanced to the quarterfinals of the Erste Bank Open on Thursday after his opponent Jarkko Nieminen of Finland pulled out with a right thigh injury while the Frenchman was leading 3-6, 6-1, 3-1.

Earlier, Jurgen Melzer of Austria opened his quest for a third straight title at the event in Vienna with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain, and Tommy Haas of Germany reached his first ATP tour quarterfinal in more than two years by defeating Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.

The ninth-ranked Tsonga dropped his first service game to go 3-0 down and scored only five points against Nieminens serve in the opening set. But the Frenchman soon took control of the match with two breaks in the second set, hitting 14 aces in total.

“It was difficult in the beginning, the first set was tough for me,” Tsonga said. “Jarkko played well but he was not able to continue. Its like this in tennis a lot at the end of the year.”

Tsonga said he was hoping for a strong finish to his season, in which he split up with coach Eric Winogradsky after working together for seven years.

“Hopefully I can get some points here for the ATP finals,” said Tsonga, who is chasing one of three remaining open spots at the London event in November.

Tsonga next plays Xavier Melisse of Belgium, who rallied to beat the eighth-seeded Fabio Fognini of Italy 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-3.

The third-seeded Melzer, who had a bye in the first round, held serve throughout and didnt face a break point until in the third game of the second set.

“I did not start well in the match but I served well so I could rely on that,” the Austrian said. “After the first couple of games, I felt more secure and (Garcia-Lopez) started to make some mistakes.”

Melzers match was initially scheduled for Wednesday but he asked organizers for an extra day off to rest a right thigh injury.

“I felt it two or three times in the match, but Im happy with how it is now,” said Melzer, who will play sixth-seeded Kevin Anderson in the quarterfinals.

The former second-ranked Haas, who missed the entire last season because of hip and elbow surgery, started to serve better after losing the opening set to Bedene and finished with 10 aces.

Haas, who won the event in Vienna in 2001, will play second-seeded Juan Martin Del Potro for a place in the semifinals.

Also, the 182nd-ranked Daniel Brands of Germany upset fourth-seeded Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic 6-4, 7-6 (4), and next plays Steve Darcis of Belgium, who downed Austrian wildcard Dominic Thiem 6-2, 6-2.

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Petra Kvitova reached the semifinals of the WTA Championships after dominating top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki on Thursday, winning 6-4, 6-2 to hand the Dane her second loss at the season-ending tournament.

Kvitova joined Victoria Azarenka in the last four, with the Belarusian having earned a comfortable 6-2, 6-2 win over Li Na in the early match. In the days late match, Polands Agnieszka Radwanska beat sixth-seeded Vera Zvonareva 1-6, 6-2, 7-5.

Kvitova earned an early break in the first set and never looked troubled the rest of the way, hitting 36 winners compared to just six for Wozniacki. The Dane never earned a break point, and said she was feeling ill and tired playing her third match in three days.

“I have been feeling tired, and to get a little bit sick now, thats not the best if you want to beat the top players,” Wozniacki said. “Today, Petra played well. And of course I wish I could have been 110 percent, but my body just didnt want the things that I wanted today.”

Kvitova, this years Wimbledon champion, broke two more times in the second set before clinching the victory with a backhand winner.

“It was very strange game,” Kvitova said. “I mean, of course Im happy that I won, but sometimes I felt like work on the court when I play against Caroline because I know that shes not OK.”

The Czech player improved her record to 2-0 in the round-robin phase, while Wozniacki fell to 1-2 after also losing to Zvonareva on Wednesday. Wozniacki still wrapped up the year-end No. 1 ranking after Maria Sharapova withdrew from the tournament with an ankle injury following her second loss on Wednesday.

Azarenka followed her win over U.S. Open champion Sam Stosur with a victory by the same scoreline over Li, the French Open winner.

“I think shes a very, very tough opponent,” Azarenka said about Li. “Especially if you give her one rhythm, shes really solid and she can stay and outpower anybody. So I had to adjust, because the last two meetings that we had she really took advantage of me playing the same way … I had to change something and be more creative today.”

Li has a 1-1 record in the White Group after an opening win against Sharapova.

Li will play Stosur on Friday, with the winner advancing to the quarterfinals. Azarenka is set to play Marion Bartoli, who replaced Sharapova, in a match that is essentially meaningless.

“Im just going to try to use that match to work more on my game and improve little things that I could have done better today,” Azarenka said. “So Im just going to use it as an advantage for me and try my best. I always do. When Im on the court Im 100 percent.”

Zvonareva was left to rue the missed chances after she led 40-15, at 5-3 in the third set on Radwanskas serve. A third opportunity for the Russian to close out the match also went begging after a lengthy exchange.

“When you have [a] few match points down youre not really thinking anymore,” the eighth-seeded Radwanska said after her victory. “You just fight until the end … when I served those two match points I was still, you know, in the game.”

And she added: “The third match point was the toughest one. But I think she was a little bit nervous in the end.”

Zvonareva blamed a lack of consistency for failing to secure a win that would have guaranteed her a place in the semifinals.

“I think a lot of the times I just didnt use those opportunities that I had, and thats it,” she said. “But overall I think I was doing all the right things. I just couldnt, you know, couldnt manage to be consistent enough to beat her today.”

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Top-seeded Gilles Simon and third-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov made early exits in the first round of the St. Petersburg Open on Monday.

Adrian Mannarino rallied to beat fellow Frenchman Simon 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, while Dolgopolov was upset by Israeli wild-card Dudi Sela 6-2, 6-2.

Earlier, fifth-seeded Mikhail Youzhny of Russia advanced to the second round, beating Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine 6-3, 7-6 (7), while Potito Starace of Italy defeated Russian wild card Ivan Nedelko 6-0, 6-1.

The 12th-ranked Simon, who was making his debut at the event, trailed by a break in each set. He then broke Mannarino two times in the first set and evened it at 1-all in the second.

The 86th-ranked Mannarino, who is yet to win a title, broke in the ninth game to stay in the match and held his serve in the decider to close the match on his third match point.

“It was a tough match. I had some opportunities, I was one set up,” Simon said. “He saved three break points and played better then me in the end of the second set and in the beginning of the third.

The 97th-ranked Sela broke Dolgopolov twice in each set to hand the 16th-ranked Ukrainian his second successive early exit after Jeremy Chardy of France ousted him in straight sets in Moscow last week.

Youzhny, who won the tournament in 2004, broke early in each set. Stakhovsky, the winner here two years ago, managed to break back in the second for 2-all and then force a tiebreaker. Youzhny closed the match on his second match point.

“It was a tough match although I managed to break early in each set, ” Youzhny said. “Stakhovsky had a set point serving at 6-5 on a tiebreaker but I returned well.”

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