Story highlights
Fourth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is beaten in second round of the Shanghai Masters
The Frenchman goes out 7-6 4-6 4-6 to world number 47 Kei Nishikori of Japan
Top seed Rafael Nadal cruises to a 6-3 6-2 victory over Guillermo Garcia-Lopez
Fourth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has crashed out in the second round of the Shanghai Masters, beaten in three sets by Japan’s Kei Nishikori.
Tsonga looked to be on course for a straightforward victory after cruising through the opening set tie break, but world No.47 Nishikori broke twice in the second and third sets to go through 6-7 (1-7) 6-4 6-4 on his third match point.
The defeat could prove particularly costly for the Frenchman, who currently holds the eighth and final place in next month’s ATP World Tour Finals in London.
He told reporters: “Of course I’m disappointed, but he returned unbelievably. I think nobody breaks me many times like this.
“At the moment I’m confident about London. I will take some rest and then I will come back to qualify.”
Top seed and world number two Rafael Nadal opened his tournament with a comfortable 6-3 6-2 victory over fellow-Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.
Nadal, who is bidding to win his 20th Masters title, lost to Garcia-Lopez in Bangkok last year, and said: “It was a little bit in my mind today in the break points, but the truth is I have a comfortable victory in two sets.”
Meanwhile, second seed and defending champion Andy Murray had an easy passage into the third round after Dmitry Tursunov of Russia withdrew from their match with a right thigh injury.
In other matches, third seed David Ferrer edged past Canada’s Milos Raonic 7-5 7-6 (9/7), while sixth seed Tomas Berdych beat fellow-Czech Radek Stepanek 6-4 6-3.
