Melzer Upsets Nadal in Round Three of Shanghai Masters
Rafael Nadal failed to reach a quarterfinal for the first time this year, as he was upset by Jurgen Melzer in the third round of the 2010 Shanghai Rolex Masters on Thursday. The top-seeded Nadal had never dropped a set to the Austrian in three previous meetings but went down in three sets, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.
Nadal won the 2010 U.S. Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in September to become the seventh man in history to win all four Grand Slam tournaments and was bidding for his eighth title of the season in Shanghai.
Melzer played aggressively from the start, and took the match to Nadal from the baseline and at the net. They split the first two sets, and then Melzer broke Nadal at 2-2 in the deciding set and then held serve the rest of the way to capture the victory.
Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray both had easier times on Thursday. Djokovic, aiming to win consecutive titles after recently capturing the China Open, defeated Frenchman Richard Gasquet, 6-1, 6-1. Djokovic next faces Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, who upset Wimbledon finalist and seventh-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych, 7-6 (4), 6-3. Garcia-Lopez advanced Wednesday when Andy Roddick retired with a groin injury while leading, 6-3, 2-3.
Murray beat qualifier Jeremy Chardy of France, 6-3, 6-4, to reach his ninth quarterfinal this year. Murray will now face 12th-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarterfinals, who defeated Germany’s Florian Mayer, 7-5, 6-3.
