Jurgen jolt for off-colour Rafa
Oct. 14: World number one Rafael Nadal was on Thursday dumped out of the $3.24-million-Shanghai Masters in the third round by Austrian 13th seed Jurgen Melzer.
It was only the ninth defeat of the season for the Spaniard, who came into this tournament on the heels of victory in the Japan Open last week. It was also the first time since the 2009 French Open that he has failed to progress further than the third round: in the 21 tournaments since then, Nadal has reached at least the quarterfinal stage.
Despite never having taken a set off Nadal in their three previous encounters, Melzer stormed the first set here, winning 6-1. Nadal claimed the second, 6-3, but the Austrian ranked 12th in the world rankings, took the third, decisive set 6-3 to set up a quarterfinal against either Juan Monaco or Mischa Zverev.
Three straight weeks of play in Asia capped an exhausting year for Nadal, winner of seven titles including Tokyo last weekend and the last three grand slams. Nadal takes a pause standing 67-9 on the season and will headline at the eight-man season finals in London from November 21.
Melzer handed Nadal his first 6-1 losing set in a year. The top seed bounced back to take the second but the Austrian recovered in the third, earning a break for 4-2. He kept Nadal under pressure a game later, as the world number one saved three match points to hold on for 3-5. But Melzer held his nerve to serve out victory a game later.
Roger Federer, seeded third, was completing third round play against Andreas Seppi, who has never beaten him. Andy Murray became the fourth man to qualify for the season’s final event as he defeated Jeremy Chardy 6-3 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals. Fellow London qualifier and world number two Novak Djokovic continued his red-hot form, with the two-time Beijing champion hammering Richard Gasquet 6-1, 6-1.
“I’m feeling good on the court,” said Djokovic, winner in Beijing before coming to Shanghai. Meanwhile, Swiss master Roger Federer defeated Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the next round.
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