American Andy Roddick [Images] secured one of the three remaining spots for the Masters Cup when he beat France's [Images] Gilles Simon 6-3, 7-5 in the third round of the Paris Masters on Thursday.

The win means the 2003 US Open [Images] champion, sixth in the ATP Race, cannot end the week lower than seventh. The top eight qualify for the season-ending tournament in Shanghai.

Spain's Rafael Nadal [Images], Swiss Roger Federer [Images], Serb Novak Djokovic [Images], Briton Andy Murray and Russia's [Images] Nikolay Davydenko have already qualified for the Masters Cup, which starts on Nov. 9.

"It's always an honour to qualify. I think this is six straight years, so that's a good accomplishment. I'm looking forward to it," said Roddick, who was forced to pull out one year through injury.

"It's either impressive or I'm getting old or both."

Simon, who broke into the top 10 after reaching the Madrid Masters final earlier this month, still has a good chance of travelling to Shanghai, depending on his rivals' results in Paris.

"I feel ready to do nothing today," the French number one said.

"I'm not qualified, and it does not depend on me anymore and I'm very unhappy with that. People ask me if I'm going to watch what the other players do but I will not. I will wait for the natural selection to take place."

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