Lleyton Hewitt blew his chance to take the No. 1 ranking last night when he was beaten in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5, by Spaniard Carlos Moya in the Tennis Masters Cup.
Another collapse last night by Andre Agassi, dealt a blow to his bid to finish the year ranked No. 1 when he was upset 7-5, 6-1 by Jiri Novak.
Agassi had been in complete control, sailing along with a 5-2 lead and serving for the first set. He won only one more game -- that to begin the second set -- as Novak won 11 of the final 12 games to pull off the huge shocker.
With Agassi's loss, Australian Lleyton Hewitt needed only to win last night's final match against Spain's Carlos Moya to build an insurmountable lead in the Championship Points race and finish on top for the second consecutive year.
French Open champion Albert Costa handed Marat Safin his second straight loss here, knocking off the Russian 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 in Wednesday's first match.
The win evened Costa's record at 1-1 in the round-robin portion of the eight-player tournament, while Safin, who was considered one of the three favorites to win the US$3.75 million event, fell to 0-2.
Safin, ranked third in the world, could wind up the round-robin portion of the event without winning a match. His next opponent is top-seeded Hewitt.
Both Hewitt and Moya won their first matches on Tuesday.
Costa gained a spot in this elite field by winning the French Open. The top seven players in the world gain automatic entry, with the eighth spot going to a player who wins a Grand Slam tournament but doesn't otherwise qualify in the Championship Points race.
One of three Spaniards in the tournament, Costa played a steady game and let Safin make the mistakes.
The Russian did just that with unforced errors or mental mishaps. On the final point of the second set, Safin hit an ill-advised drop shot that Costa easily tracked down and put away.
With the momentum, Costa raced to a 4-1 lead in the final set, closing out the victory when Safin's forehand crosscourt sailed wide.
Play was halted briefly in the seventh games of the final set when some of the house lights on one side of the court dimmed.
However, umpire Carlos Bernardes of Brazil and tournament supervisor Tom Barnes ruled there was enough light for play to continue.
In Tuesday's other matches, Moya upset Safin 6-4, 7-5 and Switzerland's Roger Federer stopped Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3, 6-4.
After three matches in round-robin competition, the top two players in each group advance to Saturday's semifinals.
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