TENNIS: Marat Safin gave the French crowd a taste of what they can expect in next month's Davis Cup final when he destroyed Wimbledon finalist David Nalbandian in the Paris Masters second round yesterday.

The Russian took just 62 minutes to beat Nalbandian 6-3, 6-2 with a near faultless display of baseline power, guaranteeing his place in the Masters Cup in Shanghai whatever the outcome of his third-round match with Dutchman Sjeng Schalken today.

Roger Federer, Tim Henman and Carlos Moya enhanced their Masters Cup chances with convincing second-round wins. Henman completed a 6-1, 7-5 victory over Czech qualifier Radek Stepanek to set up a third-round clash with Nicolas Escude. Federer took his career record against Xavier Malisse to 6-1 with a 6-2, 6-4 victory against the Belgian, who was hampered by a back injury, while Moya overcame a tricky opponent in Jim Blake, winning 6-3, 6-3.

SNOOKER: Mark Davis is through to the first major final of his career thanks to a superb finish to the opening Benson and Hedges Championship semi-final in Mansfield last night. Davis defeated Barry Hawkins 6-3 including an unanswered spell of 302 points over the closing three frames. Davis rounded off the match with a break of 103. He also made runs of 83 and 75 as Hawkins could only sit and watch.