Feliciano Lopez thumped World No. 2 Rafael Nadal, 6-3, 7-6(6) in the second round of the Shanghai Rolex Masters. This is Lopez’s third win in 12 meetings with Nadal, who was diagnosed with the beginnings of appendicitis over the weekend.
The Madrid native fought back from 3-5 down in the second set and managed to save a set point at 5-6 during the tie-break, before claiming victory in just one hour and 44 minutes. Lopez fired 15 aces and saved four of the five break points he faced.
Lopez will now aim to reach his third ATP World Tour Masters 1000 quarter-final of the season, when he faces John Isner today (October 9th, 2014). This, after Isner came through an all-American contest against Steve Johnson 7-6(6), 7-6(7).
Meanwhile, Stan Wawrinka, Kei Nishikori and Grigor Dimitrov all suffered second round exits in the Shanghai Masters on Wednesday.
Fourth seed Wawrinka suffered a 5-7 7-5 6-4 defeat to Gilles Simon, while 10th seed Dimitrov lost 7-5 6-3 to Julien Benneteau.
Another shocking loss also saw seventh seed Nishikori going down 7-6 (5) 6-4 to US ace Jack Sock.
However, world No. 1 Djokovic extended his unbeaten streak in China to 26 straight matches with a 6-3 6-4 win over Dominic Thiem of Austria.
In other matches, sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych beat Richard Gasquet 6-3 6-1 while Roger Federer outlasted Leornardo Mayer , 7-5 3-6 7-6 (7).
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