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Nadal crashes out as Murray becomes favorite
Nadal, who has already lost the leading position in the ATP rankings, suffered yet another early exit, allowing Mayer to close the clash in two terms. The two held their services consistently in the opener, something which led to a tight tie break Mayer would claim at the death. Nadal won five points during the breaker, but failed to take the first lead.
On the other side, Mayer, who is seeded 15th in China, showed some good tennis though he lost two break points before entering the tie break. As for the second set, it was controlled by the same German who managed to break the favorite twice before sealing the victory.
It took Mayer one hour and 47 minutes to oust the world number two who was following an easy win against conational Guillermo Lopez. Next up for the German is another Spanish opponent, Feliciano Lopez who beat Tomas Berdych 6-4, 6-4.
Mayer finished the clash with a 58 first serve percentage, five aces, two breaks and a 33 return percentage. He also won 75 percent of service percentage and 72 points out of 136 played, compared to the Spaniard whose showing featured a 74 first serve percentage, two aces and a poor 25 receiving percentage.
Nadal’s exit has helped Novak Djokovic to secure the world number one position. But the Spaniard looked more concerned of the upcoming World Tour Finals in London. Rafa told reporters that he expects the big event to change its location elsewhere given the high rate of British taxes.
“The tax regime from UK is complicating a lot of things because to go and play at Queen’s, the problem is not to win. The problem is I can lose money because I go there. I play for one week, and they take out money from my sponsors. That’s a lot,” he said.
Mayer’s next opponent Lopez stunned the sixth seed Berdych in two sets, 6-4, 6-4, needing just one hour and 21 minutes to make the progress. Lopez gave the Czech no chance to break, stealing his opponent a service in the opener to go two games atop.
The second set looked almost the same and saw the Spaniard convert one out of two break points for yet another reasonable lead which allowed him to close the match in two rounds. The head to head series between the two have now gone 4-3 to the world number 28 who lost the previous meeting at the 2010 World Tour Finals.
Lopez finished the game with a 62 first serve percentage, seven aces, two breaks and a 79 service percentage, He also won 34 percent of return points and 61 points out of 111 played, compared to Berdych’s performance which included a 66 first serve percentage, seven aces, a double faults and a very poor 21 return percentage.
On the second half of the, second seed Andy Murray made his debut in the third round. The Scott, who had been favored by a BYE in the opening day and who also took advantage of Dmitry Tursunov’s withdrawal, beat Stanislas Wawrinka in three sets, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
Murray, winner of this year’s Queen’s, Cincinnati and Tokyo events, needed two hours and ten minutes to secure the quarter final berth. He took the first set after breaking his opponent twice. But the second term saw him lose plenty of pace and concede a service, which cost him the leveler. Wawrinka thus pushed the game into a third round decider.
The two exchanged three more breaks in the last set with Murray taking two of them when it counted the most. Next up for him is week’s revelation Matthew Ebden of Australia who stunned Gilles Simon in the third term.
Murray finished the clash with a 64 first serve percentage, four aces, three double faults, a 40 return percentage and a 62 service one. He also converted four out of five break points, compared to Wawrinka who managed three out of seven chances. The Swiss also won 56 percent of first serve points, hit five aces and committed two double faults.
World number four Murray has now opened the gap to 6-4 against the world number 19 Wawrinka whose last win against the Briton dates from the last term’s US Open Grand Slam.
Ebden beat Simon in three sets, 6-2, 2-6, 7-6, needing two hours and eight minutes to clinch the victory. The Aussie took the first lead with some ease, breaking the favorite twice in three tries. On the other side, Simon was given no chance to build a break point opportunity, but managed to set the pace in the second round.
The eighth seed French broke Ebden twice in the next term, leaving the Aussie four games adrift. Still, Simon failed to keep the same rhythm in the decider when he could only push the round into the tie break. The two exchanged a couple of breaks but it was the Aussie to break Simon late in the run to clinch the victory and make the progress.
Simon won five points in the tie break but was denied when it counted the most by a stubborn Ebden who marked his third big win in Shanghai after the ones grabbed against Pablo Andujar and Ryan Harrison.
The 23 year old Ebden finished the clash with a 59 first serve percentage, seven aces, three double faults, a 37 return percentage, a 64 service one and three breaks. As for Simon, his performance included a 54 first serve percentage, 14 aces, four double faults and a 36 return percentage. He also converted three out of nine break points and 63 percent of service points.
Third seed David Ferrer, winner in Acapulco and Auckland this year, ousted conational and former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero in three sets after surviving a big early scare. Ferrero took the first set 6-1, but lost the next ones 5-7, 2-6. The 31 year old veteran broke Ferrer three times only in the first set to go five games atop without conceding any of hiss services.
Things got more complicated though in the next round which saw Ferrero concede a late service as well as the term, something which allowed Ferrer to edge his opponent to a third set decider he would dominate with some ease.
Finally, David had a much better start in the last round, breaking Ferrero early in the term and once again amid the decider. He closed the meeting after exactly two hours and will next meet Andy Roddick in the quarter finals.
Ferrer came up with a 48 first serve percentage, 11 aces, five double faults and a 38 return percentage. Ferrero won 58 percent of first serve balls but only converted three out of nine break points. He also set a 36 return percentage and a 62 service one, the loss being his seventh one against world number five Ferrero whose previous win came from the 2010 Acapulco event.
Ferrer’s next opponent Andy Roddick crashed seventh seed Nicolas Almagro, who was chasing his fourth title of the year in China, in two sets 6-3, 6-4. The American only needed one hour and ten minutes to oust the favorite who he met for the second time.
Roddick, who is seeded tenth in Shanghai, broke his opponent once in the first term and once again in the second one, managing at the same time to keep the sheet clean on his service. Andy came up with a 73 first serve percentage, 11 aces, and an impressive 83 service percentage. Almagro’s poor showing included a 17 return percentage, four aces and a couple of double faults.
The American has now improved his record over the world number 11 to two wins and zero defeats. Roddick’s first win came from the Miami World Tour Masters in 2010 when he crashed the Spaniard in two sets.
Kei Nishikori and Alexandr Dolgopolov will also fight for a semi final spot. The Japanese edged Jurgen Melzer’s killer Santiago Giraldo in three sets, 7-6, 4-6, 6-3. Nishikori needed over two hours and a half to book a spot into the quarter finals, winning the first set at the death. The two players exchanged two breaks, one apiece, in the opener but it was Kei to control the breaker and win it 8-6.
The second term belonged to the Colombian who broke his opponent twice amid the round to go two games atop. He also conceded a service, but that did not hinder him of pushing the meeting further. Finally, the last term was controlled by Nishikori who managed to break Giraldo once more for a three game lead.
Overall, the Japanese won 54 percent of first serve points and 37 of return points. He also hit four aces, committed the same number of double faults and converted three out of 12 break points, compard to the Colombian whose performance featured a 52 first serve percentage, three aces, five double faults and three breaks.
The head to head series between the two has now gone 2-0 to the world number 47 Nishikori whose first victory dates from the 2010 Roland Garros. His next opponent Alexandr Dolgopolov, who is seeded 12th in China, also needed three sets to make the progress.
The Ukrainian edged Bernard Tomic after losing the opener at the death, 5-7, 6-1, 6-0. Dolgopolov got a huge revenge over the poor start, thwarting his opponent in the next two terms. The two exchanged three breaks in the first round, two of which being taken by the Aussie who made it 1-0 in over half an hour.
But the second set saw Alexandr crash Tomic with four breaks. Dolgopolov also conceded a service but then built a five game lead which helped him to draw the clear success. The decider brought him three more break point conversions in four tries as he kept the sheet clean throughout the entire term. The Ukrainian needed just one hour and 20 minutes to beat his opponent and set a tight meeting with Nishikori.
The world number 18 Dolgopolov leads the head to head series with the 49th ranked Tomic 3-0. His previous success dated from this term’s Sydney event when the 22 year old grabbed a similar victory. He lost the first set but took the next two with ease.
Dolgopolov finished the game with a 46 first serve percentage, 11 aces, two double faults, a 54 return percentage and eight breaks in 12 tries, compared to the Aussie’s 61 first serve percentage, three aces and six double faults.
Shanghai Masters Prize money and points:
Winner – $620,000 and 1000 points ATP
Runner up – $304,000 and 600 points ATP
Semi finalist – $153,000 and 360 points ATP
Quarter finalist – $77,800 and 180 points ATP
R16 – $40,400 and 90 points ATP
R32 – $21,300 and 45 points ATP
R56 – $11,500 and 10 points ATP
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