Despite Richard's loss to David Nalbandian in the Paris Masters semis, Rafael Nadal ensured Richard's place in Shanghai when he defeated Richard's only remaining rival, Marcos Baghdatis.

Richard went on court for his semifinal, knowing he had qualified for the season-ending Masters Cup. However, he was unable to halt a near-perfect David Nalbandian, who earlier in the week knocked out Federer.

Richard put together a small comeback at 5-2 down in the second set, but he was unable to level the match, as Nalbandian secured victory 6-2, 6-4.