Tennis: Nadal crashes out of Shanghai Masters
Murray survives scare, goes through to quarter-finals.
SHANGHAI:
Top-seed Rafael Nadal was sent crashing out of the Shanghai Masters on a dramatic day of action while defending champion Andy Murray survived a testing encounter to reach the quarter-finals.
World number two Nadal lost 6-7, 3-6 to Germany’s Florian Mayer, edged out in a first-set tie-break and broken twice in the second set.
Mayer made the crucial breakthrough in the seventh game of the second set to lead 4-3 and the Spaniard could not respond, broken again in the final game with the 15th-seed taking his first match point.
Earlier, Murray won 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 against the Swiss 13th-seed Stanislas Wawrinka. The Briton looked set for a straightforward victory after taking the first set but cut a frustrated figure as he conceded a break of serve in the second set with Wawrinka leveling the match with an ace.
Murray raced into a 5-0 lead in the decider and despite a late wobble closed out the match. “I got myself pumped up right at the beginning of the third set,” said Murray. “Stan was playing very well. In the middle of the second set, I was really struggling. I really had to make sure I got my feet moving.” Earlier, Spain’s David Ferrer edged into the last-eight when he beat injured Juan Carlos Ferrero 1-6, 7-5, 6-2 to become the fifth player to qualify for the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals, featuring the world’s top eight singles players over the year.
Andy Roddick reached the last-eight after an impressive 6-3, 6-4 win over Nicolas Almagro of Spain.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 14th, 2011.
Top-seed Rafael Nadal was sent crashing out of the Shanghai Masters on a dramatic day of action while defending champion Andy Murray survived a testing encounter to reach the quarter-finals.
World number two Nadal lost 6-7, 3-6 to Germany’s Florian Mayer, edged out in a first-set tie-break and broken twice in the second set.
Mayer made the crucial breakthrough in the seventh game of the second set to lead 4-3 and the Spaniard could not respond, broken again in the final game with the 15th-seed taking his first match point.
Earlier, Murray won 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 against the Swiss 13th-seed Stanislas Wawrinka. The Briton looked set for a straightforward victory after taking the first set but cut a frustrated figure as he conceded a break of serve in the second set with Wawrinka leveling the match with an ace.
Murray raced into a 5-0 lead in the decider and despite a late wobble closed out the match. “I got myself pumped up right at the beginning of the third set,” said Murray. “Stan was playing very well. In the middle of the second set, I was really struggling. I really had to make sure I got my feet moving.” Earlier, Spain’s David Ferrer edged into the last-eight when he beat injured Juan Carlos Ferrero 1-6, 7-5, 6-2 to become the fifth player to qualify for the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals, featuring the world’s top eight singles players over the year.
Andy Roddick reached the last-eight after an impressive 6-3, 6-4 win over Nicolas Almagro of Spain.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 14th, 2011.