SHANGHAI: Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray advanced to the third round of the Shanghai Masters on Wednesday, although only the Spaniard had to step onto the court.
The top-seeded Nadal easily beat countryman Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-3, 6-2, while Murray moved on when Dmitry Tursunov of Russia pulled out with a thigh injury.
Tursunov had defeated Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil in a tough, three-set match in the first round on Tuesday.
Murray, seeded second as the defending champion, hasn’t played a match yet in Shanghai, receiving a first-round bye.
Earlier Wednesday, fourth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was knocked out by Japan’s Kei Nishikori 6-7 (1), 6-4, 6-4. The Frenchman fought off two match points with aces before hitting a backhand long to hand Nishikori the win.
The loss will hurt Tsonga’s chances of claiming one of the four remaining spots in the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London. He is eighth in the standings, the last qualifying spot.
In another second-round match, third-seeded David Ferrer of Spain defeated Canadian Milos Raonic 7-5, 7-6 (7). Raonic, who has now lost to Ferrer three times this year, had a set point in the tiebreaker, but couldn’t convert.
Sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych, fresh off a win last week at the China Open in Beijing, also advanced with a 6-4, 6-3 win over fellow Czech Radek Stepanek.
Garcia-Lopez won his last meeting with Nadal, in the semifinals of the Thailand Open in 2010, Nadal’s first tournament after capturing the U.S. Open.
“It was a tough loss last year in Bangkok,” Nadal said. “Less painful because I came after winning the U.S. Open, but it probably was the more unbelievable loss in my career against him last year because I never had as many chances as I had in that match, and I lost. It was a little bit in my mind today in the break points.”
After losing the first set and going down a break in the second set Wednesday, Garcia-Lopez started hitting drop shots to bring Nadal to the net. (Agencies)
