SHANGHAI, China -- Andre Agassi's second loss in the season-ending Masters Cup on Thursday means Lleyton Hewitt will finish the year with the world No. 1 ranking.

	By defeating Jiri Novak, Roger Federer put the pressure on Andre Agassi.

Agassi double-faulted on match point, handing Juan Carlos Ferrero a 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (6) victory. Shortly after the match, Agassi withdrew from the tournament with a hip injury. Thomas Johansson of Sweden will replace Agassi.

Agassi came into the eight-player tournament with a chance to overtake Hewitt in the rankings and finish the year No. 1. But he failed to reach the semifinals after his second straight loss.

Hewitt then celebrated his top ranking by handing Marat Safin his third straight loss 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.

"I think Lleyton obviously has had a great year," Agassi said. "He's again proven himself to be the best out there, and that's not easy to do."

Agassi's second straight defeat also clinched a semifinal berth for Switzerland's Roger Federer, who ran his record to 2-0 by stopping Jiri Novak 6-0, 4-6, 6-2.

The round-robin portion of the tournament ends Friday when Carlos Moya takes on fellow Spaniard Albert Costa, Ferrero plays Novak and Federer meets Johansson.

Safin cruised through the second set, when Hewitt served a miserable 28 percent, and had an early break in the final set. Hewitt, however, broke back.

In the ninth game, Safin won the first two points before eventually losing his serve. It was the opening Hewitt needed, and he held serve in the next game to close out the victory.

Safin said Hewitt's main strength is "just dedication and consistency. Nothing else."

Now Hewitt must wait until the Moya-Costa match to see if he plays in the semifinals or if his year is over.

"I think I've got better and better every match that I've played this week," Hewitt said. "I knew I had to get a win on the board tonight, and I did that and now it's out of my control."

Agassi battled Ferrero evenly, unlike his disappointing performance against Novak in his first match Wednesday. But mistakes once again buried any chance Agassi had to pull out a victory.

"I didn't expect to come out and play a bad match," Agassi said. "It was just a tough match. I expected it to be tough and it was tough, and I'm not sure it's any consolation when you lose it."

Ferrero, one of three Spaniards in the field, lost his serve only twice in the match -- and both came in the second set when Agassi raced out to a 4-0 lead.

In the third set tiebreaker, Ferrero had triple match point at 6-3. But Agassi won the next three points before Ferrero held for a 7-6 advantage and his fifth match point.

This time, Ferrero clinched the win.

"Right now I'm playing with a lot of confidence," Ferrero said.

Federer, the first Swiss player to qualify for the season-ending championships since Jakob Hlasek in 1988, played well against Novak.

Federer took the first three games of the final set, then easily held serve the rest of the way to become the only undefeated player in his Gold Group.

Hewitt, Safin, Moya and Costa are in the Red Group. Moya, at 2-0, clinched a semifinal berth on Wednesday.

After three round-robin matches, the top two players in each group advance to Saturday's semifinals. Hewitt is trying to become the first player since Pete Sampras in 1996-97 to win this event in consecutive years.