LOS ANGELES -- Players in the season-ending Masters Cup, which starts Tuesday, according to seeding:

1. Lleyton Hewitt, Australia

World No. 1 captured second career Grand Slam in July at Wimbledon; won his first major last year at the U.S. Open and reached the semifinals at this year's edition; captured three other titles at San Jose, the Tennis Masters Series event in Indian Wells and Queen's in London; reached the finals of TMS tournaments in Cincinnati and Paris; also a semifinalist at TMS Miami and Barcelona; health problems continue to plague him after a bout of the chicken pox in January and more respiratory problems; looking to become the first consecutive champion since Pete Sampras won back-to-back titles in 1996 and 1997; last year, became the first Australian to win the season-ending championship at the Tennis Masters Cup in Sydney; at 20 years, 10 months, finished last year as the youngest player ever, as well as the first Australian, to finish No. 1.

2. Andre Agassi, United States

Made it to the quarterfinals or better this year in 11 of 12 events; owns a 51-10 record on the year with titles in Scottsdale, the Tennis Masters Series event in Miami, TMS Roma, Los Angeles and TMS Madrid; his five tournament victories leads ATP; also reached finals at San Jose and U.S. Open; a semifinalist at Houston and Washington D.C.; trails Lleyton Hewitt by 88 points in the race to finish the year at No. 1; trying to become the first player to end the year at No. 1 without a Grand Slam crown since John McEnroe in 1982; also hoping to become the oldest No. 1; won the season-ending championships in 1990 and was runner-up in 1999 and 2000; reached the semifinals in the event two other times; ranks eighth on the all-time list with 54 titles.

3. Marat Safin, Russia

Coming off winning his first title of the year at Paris, where he routed top-ranked Lleyton Hewitt; began 2002 by appearing in his second Grand Slam final at the Australian Open but lost to Thomas Johansson; recorded another runner-up effort at Tennis Masters Series Hamburg; reached the semifinals at the French Open and the Kremlin Cup; also appeared in quarterfinals at TMS events in Monte Carlo, Miami and Toronto; has helped Russia reach its third Davis Cup final against France later this month; qualified for his second Tennis Masters Cup, having reached the semifinals in 2000.

4. Juan Carlos Ferrero, Spain

Appeared in his first career Grand Slam final at the French Open in June, losing to Albert Costa; clay is the Spaniard's favorite surface, but he won his second career hard-court event at Hong Kong in September; other hard-court title came at Doha in 2001; missed the first month of the season due to injury; returned in February with a second-round effort at the Milan Indoors; did not distinguish himself until capturing the Tennis Masters Series event at Monte Carlo in May, defeating Tommy Haas, Sebastien Grosjean and former French Open champion Carlos Moya in the last three rounds; it was his first title since May 2001 when he won in Rome; also reached the final at Kitzbuhel and the semifinals at the TMS Cincinnati; had a good indoor season, advancing to the semifinals at Basel and the quarterfinals at TMS Madrid; made his first trip to the Tennis Masters Cup last year and reached the semifinals.

5. Carlos Moya, Spain

Enjoying his best season in five years with four titles; became the world No. 1 in March 1999, but his results fell off as he wrestled with a back injury that kept him out of action for months in late 1999 and 2000; comeback reached its pinnacle in August when he defeated No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt in the final of the Tennis Masters Series Cincinnati; also won clay-court events at Acapulco, Bastad and Umag; was runner-up at the TMS Monte Carlo and at Hong Kong, and semifinalist at Estoril, Sopot, and last month's TMS Paris; returns to the season-ending event for the first time since losing the final at Hannover in five sets to countryman Alex Corretja; also advanced to the semifinals in 1997.

6. Roger Federer, Switzerland

Won three of his four career titles in 2002 and qualified for the Tennis Masters Cup for the first time in his career; at 21, is the youngest player in Shanghai; started and finished the season in style - won his first tournament of the year at Sydney and reached the fourth round at the Australian Open; reached the final in Milan in February; advanced to his first Tennis Masters Series final at Miami in March; won the TMS Hamburg in May; slumped to a 6-8 record during the summer, including first-round losses at Roland Garros and Wimbledon; turned things around at the U.S. Open with a fourth-round effort; went 14-4 during the indoor season, winning at Vienna, reaching the semifinals in Basel and the quarterfinals at Moscow and TMS events in Madrid and Paris.

7. Jiri Novak, Czech Republic

Had a breakthrough season in 2002 with a 52-24 record; started the campaign with a quarterfinal effort at Doha and reached the semifinals at Auckland; advanced to his first career Grand Slam semifinal at the Australian Open, falling to eventual champion Thomas Johansson in five sets; recorded a quarterfinal finish at Copenhagen and was a semifinalist at Dubai in February; was a semifinalist at the Tennis Masters Series event at Rome in May; lost in the third and second rounds at the French Open and Wimbledon, respectively; bounced back with a semifinal effort at Stuttgart Outdoor and the TMS Canada; reached the fourth round at the U.S. Open; appeared in consecutive finals at Vienna and the TMS Madrid; a doubles specialist early in his career (15 career doubles titles), the 27-year-old focused on singles this year and qualified for the season-ending tournament for the first time.

8. Albert Costa, Spain

Achieved life's dream by winning the French Open in June; all 12 of his career titles have come on clay; owns a 28-8 record on the dirt this season but is just 6-12 on other surfaces; went just 8-10 after his Roland Garros triumph; looking for his first win in the Tennis Masters Cup; last time he made the season-ending event was in 1998, when he lost both his matches; could finish in the top 10 in the rankings for the first time if he has a solid performance in Shanghai.