Tennis News

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Fresh from making his first hard-court final of the season last week in Beijing, Rafael Nadal has taken a novel route to beginning his Shanghai Rolex Masters campaign – by train. The Spaniard, runner-up here in 2009, will meet big-serving Ivo Karlovic in his first match since falling to World No. 1 Novak Djokovic last week and in a change from the usual jet-setting lifestyle on tour he opted to take the scenic path to China’s largest city.

“Some places (with) beautiful views, and very comfortable,” Nadal said of the journey. “It was the first time.  I wanted to do it last year but I couldn’t, so I did this year. I enjoyed it. If I play Beijing next year, I’m going to repeat the same trip because I like it.”

Currently at No. 6 in the Emirates ATP Race to London, a strong result this week would go a long way to sealing Nadal’s place in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals and with few points to defend from the final months of last season he stands to finish an at times difficult year on a positive note.

“I only care about the possibility to finish the season with better feeling than what I had,” he said. “And I am on the way to doing it. I feel the last couple of months I was playing better than what the results say. I lost a couple of tough ones, like in the US Open, like in Cincinnati.  But I’m feeling better in general.

“One of the biggest problems that I had during the whole season, I was not able to control my emotions on court, something that I always had the right control of doing all my career.  The real thing is the last couple of months that is much better.  

“I feel almost under control again. That’s a very important step for me to, first of all, enjoy, and second thing, to have the possibility to practise and to compete at the level that I want.”

Nadal is relishing being able to train injury-free. “The last couple of months I am practising more than what I did last, let’s say, six, seven years,” he said.

Despite leading his ATP FedEx Head2Head with 6ft 11in Karlovic 4-0, the pair has not met since 2011. Nadal will be wary of the inroads the Croatian has made this season. “I expect the first very tough match against Karlovic,” he said. “I didn’t play semi-finals on hard-court until last week, this year. So I go day by day. “I’m happy the way that I am playing. Last week was a very positive week for me, playing better every day.”

Roger Federer has had plenty of difficult days against a Spanish left-hander during his illustrious career. But it wasn’t his great rival Rafael Nadal whipping forehands at him on Tuesday in Shanghai. Instead it was the Spanish No. 10, Albert Ramos-Vinolas, who held his nerve to claim the biggest win of his career over Federer.

Having lost the first set against World No. 70 Ramos-Vinolas, Federer steadied the ship with a strong second set and looked poised to sustain his momentum in the decider. Indeed, just 12 months ago in Shanghai he had found himself in worse trouble when he faced six match points against Leonardo Mayer in his opening match. On that occasion, Federer had narrowly escaped and gone on to win the title.

But there was to be no let-off against the resilient Ramos-Vinolas, who did not let the opportunity to claim his first Top 10 win slip through his grasp. The 27 year old stayed strong on serve in the third set and snuck a crucial break in the eighth game.

“I definitely thought of last year’s match,” said Federer. “But at the same time it was a completely different match. Playing a lefty maybe also had something to do with it. Who knows? Albert was doing a good job of trying to stay on the offensive as well as I was trying to do the same. There were some good rallies there.

“I had my chances. I just couldn’t make it today. I’ve got to look into it. But at the end of the day this can happen during the year. Unfortunately, here in Shanghai where I was defending champion, I was really hoping again to play a great tournament.

“I just think the first round here in Shanghai has always been historically quite difficult, getting used to the conditions and the surface and the balls. The balls play very different than in other places. Last year I got lucky. This year I didn’t. So it’s a pity.”

Ramos-Vinolas is the lowest-ranked player to beat Federer since July 2013, when World No. 114 Federico Delbonis stunned Federer in the Hamburg semi-finals.

“I’m always cautious,” said Federer, who had lost just three games in his one previous meeting with Ramos-Vinolas at Wimbledon three years ago. “I don’t underestimate or lack respect for anybody out there. These guys are all touring professionals, they know what they’re doing. The margins are so small.

“I played him at Wimbledon before, so I knew him. I’ve seen him play. He’s definitely improved since then. That was a while back and that was not his favourite surface. I was aware that he could give me a tough workout and even beat me.”

Defeat for Federer in Shanghai, where he was defending 1000 Emirates ATP Ranking points, also puts in jeopardy his chance of finishing as year-end World No. 2 behind Novak Djokovic.

The Swiss started the week 770 points behind Andy Murray in the year-to-date standings. Murray has the chance to stretch that lead even further this week now, only defending 90 points from his third-round exit against David Ferrer last year. The Scot begins his campaign on Wednesday against Steve Johnson.

What a way to get your first Top 10 win. Spanish qualifier Albert Ramos-Vinolas has stunned Roger Federer in the second round of the Shanghai Rolex Masters after beating the second seed 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-3 on Tuesday evening.

Going into the contest, the No. 70-ranked Ramos-Vinolas was 0-15 against Top 10 players and had won just two sets. But the 27-year-old Spaniard played fearless tennis as he shocked defending Shanghai champion Federer in just over two hours.

Federer failed to convert two break points in Ramos-Vinolas’ opening service game and would rue his missed opportunity as Ramos-Vinolas went on to sneak the first set in the ensuing tie-break.

The Swiss hit back strongly in the second set, breaking in the fifth and seventh games to level the match, but could not carry his momentum into the deciding set. Ramos-Vinolas earned a crucial break in the eighth game and went on to serve out victory to 30.

“I’m really happy to beat Roger Federer,” said Ramos-Vinolas. “I didn’t expect it during the match. After the second set I thought I would lose. But I played really good. I was very solid with my serve in the third set. I am very happy because it’s the most important victory for me.” 

Federer was playing for the first time in three weeks, since helping Switzerland to a Davis Cup World Group Play-off victory over The Netherlands. The Basel native has already punched his ticket to the year-end Barclays ATP World Tour Finals and was looking to win his sixth title of the season this week.

Ramos-Vinolas, a quarter-finalist earlier this year in Auckland and Geneva, goes on to challenge Jo-Wilfried Tsonga for a place in the quarter-finals. The 16^th-seeded Tsonga closed Tuesday’s play with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Victor Estrella Burgos.

In an all-Croatian contest, Marin Cilic defeated rising star Borna Coric 6-1, 6-2 in just 62 minutes. The 2014 US Open champion lost just six points on serve as he won the pair’s first meeting.

Gilles Simon finished strongly to defeat qualifier Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 in one hour and 33 minutes. The 10^th-seeded Frenchman reached the final in Shanghai last year (l. to Federer) and goes on to face Leonardo Mayer for a place in the third round.

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