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Nadal makes easy debut
Top seed Rafa Nadal has made an easy debut at the Shanghai Masters when the world champion crashed compatriot Guillermo Garcia Lopez in two sets, 6-3, 6-2 to meet Florian Mayer in the third term.
Nadal needed one hour and 45 minutes though as the Spaniard was forced to fight hard for the victory by a stubborn Lopez who saved 11 break points. Rafa, who is chasing his fourth title of the season after the Monte Carlo, Barcelona and French Open successes, took the first set with some difficulty, converting just one out of nine break points.
He managed instead not to allow his opponent build any break point opportunity, taking the first lead in nearly one hour. As for the second set, it saw the same Nadal ease past the world number 53 who was chasing his second victory over the world champion. Nadal broke Lopez three more times and only conceded a service throughout the entire term.
The 25 year old eventually closed the meeting after two tough rounds and is to meet Florian Mayer in the next term. Said Nadal after the meeting: “It was tough to lose last year in Bangkok. Less painful because I came after winning the US Open, but probably was the more unbelievable loss in my career against him, because I never had as many chances as I had in that match, and I lost. It was a little bit on my mind today in the break points.”
The head to head series between the two has now gone 3-1 to the former world leader whose previous win dated from the 2008 Chennai event. Last year Nadal lost to Lopez in the Bangkok semi finals. Nadal finished the game with a 66 first serve percentage, an ace, a double fault, and an impressive 75 service percentage.
He also won 51 percent of return points and converted four out of 15 break points, compared to his opponent’s one break conversion. Lopez left the court with a 57 first serve percentage, eight double faults, three aces, a poor 25 return percentage and a 49 service one.
Rafa’s next opponent, Florian Mayer, who is seeded 15 in Shanghai, stunned David Nalbandian in two sets, 6-3, 6-4 in the second term, but will have a much harder life against the Spaniard. Mayer clinched the victory in just one hour and 15 minutes, needing just over half an hour to take the first lead.
The German broke his opponent three times in the opener and only conceded a service to suggest an easy win. Concerning the second term, it was dominated by the same Mayer who managed to keep the Argentine two games atop thanks to a midway break which eventually helped him to close the clash earlier than expected.
Overall, Mayer won 58 percent of first serve points, hit five aces and committed a couple of double faults. He also finished the game with a 47 return percentage and a 68 service one, converting at the same time four out of seven break points.
On the other side, Nalbandian had a 55 first serve percentage, four aces, five double faults and a 32 return percentage. The Argentine was also dragged down by a poor break point efficiency as the world number 57 only converted a break point chance in two tries.
Despite the loss, Nalbandian still leads the direct confrontations with the 23rd ranked Mayer whom he has defeated twice so far. Their previous meeting was in 2005 in Basel, match which the Argentine won in two sets.
Sixth seed and winner of the Beijing event Tomas Berdych rallied past Radek Stepanek 6-4, 6-3 in his debut at the Chinese Masters. It took the Czech one hour and 17 minutes to oust his conational to whom he only conceded a service throughout the entire meeting.
Berdych broke Radek twice in the first set when he also conceded the service but failed to go further than two games. However, the favorite controlled the game as he would finish the game with just a double fault and a solid service efficiency.
The second set brought Tomas another break he converted into a three games lead and also saved a couple of break points from Radek who was desperately chasing the leveler. Berdych grabbed the win and will next meet Feliciano Lopez.
World number seven, who is now very close to securing a spot for the season end’s World Tour Finals, won 63 percent of first serve points, hit six aces and provided an impressive 79 service percentage. Berdych also converted three out of six break points and 41 percent of return points, compared to conational’s two aces, two double faults and a very poor 21 return percentage.
Stepanek only converted one out of three break points and won 44 points out of 106 played. Berdych has now gone 2-1 in the head to head series with Stepanek’s only win dating from the 2006 Marseille event.
Next up for Berdych is Feliciano Lopez who edged Alex Bogomolov Jr. of United States in three sets, 7-6, 3-6, 6-3. The Spaniard needed two hours and a half to make the progress, winning the first set at the death. The two only exchanged two breaks, one apiece, in the opener, but it was Lopez to control the tie break which he eventually won at four.
As for the second term, it was dominated much clearer by the American who broke Lopez once amid the round to go three games atop and threaten with a late comeback. Bogomolov also had a good start in the third set during which he built six break points and converted zero.
Lopez’s break efficiency included a service stolen amid the decider, something which helped him close the game pretty easily. That was also Lopez’s first win over the world number 38 who met the 28 year old for the first time ever.
The Spanish player finished the game with a 54 first serve percentage, eight aces, 14 double faults and two breaks in eight tries. Lopez also won 62 percent of service points and 36 of return ones, while Bogomolov, who had previously ousted another Spanish player Marcelo Granollers, left the court with a 72 service percentage, and a 38 receiving one.
The American added at the same time a 64 service percentage, four aces and won 115 points out of 228 played.
On the same first half of the draw, third seed and winner of this term’s Auckland and Acapulco events, David Ferrer struggled to end the Milos Raonic clash in two sets as the Spaniard edged him 7-5, 7-6 in the second round. The two exchanged three breaks in the first set, two of which being taken by Ferrer whose late break through brought him the first lead.
The second set look almost the same as the first one as the two players exchanged a couple of more breaks, something which allowed the Canadian to push the term into the breaker and even threaten at one point with a comeback. Unfortunately for Milos, who managed to win seven points during the tie break, Ferrer broke him when it counted the most, picking the victory in one hour and 43 minutes.
Ferrer now leads the direct confrontations with the world number 31 whom he previously defeated at this term’s Monte Carlo Masters. Ferrer will next meet compatriot and former world leader Juan Carlos Ferrero who follows a three set win over another conational Fernando Verdasco whom he edged after surviving an early scare, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Ferrero lost the first set after allowing his opponent break him twice amid the term. He also stole a service from the opposite side but could only save four out of six break points, going one set down in over half an hour.
But the second term saw Ferrero come from behind and stun the world number 24 with three breaks which propelled him three games atop despite losing a service at the same time. The veteran thus pushed the game into a third set decider which he would dominate with some ease.
Finally, Ferrero broke Fernando twice and saved all the three break points, clinching the victory in two hours and five minutes. World number 69 has now leveled the head to head series with Verdasco whom he has met six times so far.
Andy Roddick and Nicolas Almagro will also fight for a place into the fourth term. The American, who made some poor starts recently, edged Grigor Dimitrov in two sets, 7-6, 7-5, needing exactly two hours to make the progress. Roddick, who is seeded tenth in Shanghai, exchanged just two breaks with the Bulgarian in the opener, but managed to control the eventual tie break.
World number 15 won the breaker 7-3 but had an easier life in the second term. Roddick broke Dimitrov three more times to win the set at five after losing a couple of services by his own. The American finished the first meeting with the Bulgarian with a 63 first serve percentage, seven aces, two double faults, a 34 return percentage and a 66 service one.
He also converted four out of seven break points overall, compared to Dimitrov’s 61 first serve percentage and a poor 34 return one. Dimitrov also hit six aces, committed seven double faults and only converted half of the six break points.
Roddick’s next opponent Nicolas Almagro beat conational Tommy Robredo 7-5, 6-3 in one our and 21 minutes. Winner of three titles so far this year in Costa do Sauipe, Buenos Aires and Nice, Almagro faced some difficulty in the first set when he was threatened with a breaker by the world number 46 who held his serves consistently until the 11th game.
Almagro, who is seeded seventh in China, grabbed a late break who helped him to take the first lead in just over half an hour. The second set saw the same Spaniard set a three game gap. Almagro broke his opponent once more amid the term but also failed to convert four other break points. He saved instead both ones from Robredo to close the clash after two sets.
Almagro finished the game with a 57 first serve percentage, four aces, two double faults, a 37 return percentage, and a 72 service one. On the other side, Robredo came up with a 58 first serve percentage, an ace, two double faults, and a 28 receiving percentage. He has also gone 0-4 down against Almagro.
Concerning the second half of the draw, Andy Murray, winner of the Tokyo event, has made a free progress after Dmitry Tursunov withdrew due to medical problems. Next up for the Briton, who has thus jumped over the first two rounds, is Stanislas Wawrinka who edged Donald Young after losing the first set, 6-7, 7-6, 6-2.
The Swiss, seeded 13th in Shanghai, broke his opponent four times in ten tries and only conceded a couple of services to the stubborn American who failed to take advantage of six other break points. It took Wawrinka two hours and a half to make the progress, finishing the game with a 63 first serve percentage, nine aces, six double faults and a 40 return percentage.
As for Donald, his performance included a similar first serve efficiency, two aces, two double faults and a 31 return percentage. The head to head series between the two has now been evened at one with Young’s only win coming from this year’s US Open Grand Slam.
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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