(CNN) -- Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic remain on course for a final showdown at the Shanghai Masters as both cruised into the quarterfinals with convincing victories in China on Thursday.

World No. 2 Nadal, top seed in the absence of the resting Roger Federer, crushed fellow Spaniard Tommy Robredo 6-1 6-4 to set up a clash with Ivan Ljubicic on Friday.

Ljubicic progressed when French 11th seed Gael Monfils retired with a back problem while trailing the unseeded Croatian 6-2 3-0.

Nadal romped through the first set but went 2-0 down in the second before quickly breaking back, then leveling at 4-4.

He broke Robredo to love in the ninth game and then went 40-0 up on his own serve before his 14th-seeded opponent saved a match-point.

Nadal then faulted with his next serve, but his wickedly-spinning second attempt forced Robredo to hit his return high and wide.

Second seed Djokovic similarly dispatched German qualifier Rainer Schuettler, winning 6-4 6-2, and will next face eighth seed Gilles Simon.

"I didn't play the last couple of games of the first set that well, but the important thing is that I played as much as I needed, to win," the Serbian told the ATP Tour's official Web site.

"I've been working on physical strength and fitness a lot in last couple of months, and it's been paying off. When you are playing week after week, it's important to be physically strong, and that gives you advantage over your opponents.

"[Simon] is one of those tricky players on the tour who you don't want to really play. And it's not fun to play him, because he gets a lot of balls back, and he moves very lightly on the court. I'm well aware that's going to be a long match."

Frenchman Simon defeated unseeded Czech Tomas Berdych 6-3 6-4 to keep up his bid to claim one of the three remaining ATP World Tour Finals places.

Sixth seed Nikolay Daydenko is also on track for a spot at the eight-man season-ending event in London after beating fellow contender Fernando Gonzalez 6-3 7-5.

The Russian needed just 82 minutes to defeat the 10th-seeded Chilean and set up a quarterfinal clash with Radek Stepanek on Friday.

The Czech 13th seed progressed when unseeded Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka retired with an abdominal injury, with Stepanek leading 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 4-2 in a match that had already lasted two hours and 22 minutes.

French Open finalist Robin Soderling moved into eighth place in the ATP Tour standings as he beat fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France 6-3 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals.

The ninth-seeded Swede went ahead of Gonzalez in the race for a place in London next month as he won 74 percent of points on his serve.

The 25-year-old will next play Spain's Feliciano Lopez, who beat Austrian Jurgen Melzer 5-7 7-6 (7-3) 6-1 in a battle of two unseeded players

(CNN) -- Substitute Mario Bolatti scored in the 85th minute to give Argentina a 1-0 victory against 10-man Uruguay on Wednesday night and send the struggling South American football heavyweights through to next year's World Cup finals.

Two-time winners of the World Cup, Argentina joined Brazil, Chile and Paraguay as automatic qualifiers from South America.

Uruguay finished fifth in the group and now face a playoff in November against Costa Rica to secure a place in the South African showpiece.

Argentina's bid to qualify went to the final game of group-stage qualification, raising the prospect that one of the game's best players, Lionel Messi, would not play in football's greatest event and that coach Diego Maradona would end his brief tenure.
See Maradona's big day in pictures. »

The decisive moment came late in the match in Montevideo, as home defender Jose Martin Caceres was sent off for a foul against Argentina winger Jonas Gutierrez, reducing Uruguay to 10 men.

From the ensuing free-kick, Messi shifted the ball left to Juan Sebastian Veron, whose long-range shot ended up falling to Bolatti -- on the field for just four minutes -- who reacted quickest and fired past goalkeeper Nestor Muslera for the winner.

Maradona was delighted after the victory, Argentina's first in the Uruguayan capital in 33 years, and celebrated wildly on the pitch after the match.
Argentina fans revel in qualifying win.

"I can't say I enjoyed the game because I was aware throughout of how strong Uruguay were," he told FIFA's official Web site.

"I'd like to thank the players from the bottom of my heart because today was the day they made me a coach. I'd also like to dedicate our qualification to the people of Argentina, my family and to nobody else."

Uruguay go into the playoffs for the third successive time, having failed to qualify for Germany in 2006 after reaching the 2002 finals in Japan and South Korea, where they failed to go past the first-round group stage.

In Wednesday's other games, five-time World Cup champions Brazil ended Venezuela's hopes of a playoff place following a 0-0 draw in Campo Grande.

It was Venezuela's first-ever point on Brazilian soil, and the fourth time the group winners -- who had Miranda sent off for an elbow on Giancarlo Maldonado in the 56th minute -- were held to a goalless draw at home in this campaign.

Ecuador's bid to qualify ended in a 1-0 defeat in Santiago by Chile, who pipped Paraguay for second place on goal difference as Humberto Suazo netted his 10th goal of the qualifiers to be the zone's top scorer.

Paraguay could have topped the group but lost 2-0 at home to Colombia, with Gustavo Ramos and Hugo Rodallega scoring in the second half.

Bolivia had already been reduced to 10 men, with Rosauro Rivero sent off for a second yellow card in the 39th minute.

(CNN) -- Felipe Massa has been forced to backtrack on comments he made claiming that new Ferrari teammate Fernando Alonso was aware of Renault's plans to deliberately crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.

Alonso won that race after the safety car was brought out when Renault's No. 2 driver Nelson Piquet Jr spun out on lap 14, and Massa subsequently claimed it cost him that year's world title as he finished one point behind champion Lewis Hamilton.

Motorsport's ruling body the FIA cleared Alonso of any wrongdoing as it banned Renault boss Flavio Briatore, who quit his role before the ruling, while Piquet was immune from prosecution in return for giving evidence.

Massa told reporters in his native Brazil on Wednesday that he believed two-time world champion Alonso -- who is replacing Kimi Raikkonen at Ferrari next year -- must have known about Renault's race plan.

"It was the team and Nelson -- but Alonso was part of the problem. He knew. We cannot know it, but of course he knew. It's an absolute certainty," he said ahead of this weekend's Brazilian Grand Prix.

However, the 28-year-old later released a statement on the official Ferrari Web site in a bid to avoid conflict with his future teammate.

"What I've said is the outcome of a hunch I've had and is not based on any concrete evidence," Felipe said.

"The FIA World Council announced that there was no indication that Fernando may have been informed of what had happened and I respect this outcome.

"Obviously I'm very disappointed about what transpired last year in Singapore: I have already said several times what I thought about it and now it's time to close that chapter and to look to the future.

"What is certain is that this episode will not mar in any way the relationship I'll have with Fernando when we will be teammates."

Massa will not be racing at his beloved Interlagos circuit this weekend as he is still recovering from serious head injuries suffered in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix in July.

He has been allowed to test a 2007 Ferrari this week, but the team announced that he will not be ready to return to competitive action until next season