Nadal, Berdych Bounced Out Of Shanghai; Djokovic, Murray-Pouille Thursday

Rafael Nadal suffered a rare Masters early exit Wednesday in Shanghai falling to big-serving Serb Viktor Troicki 6-3, 7-6 in the second round.

Troicki, who was previously 0-5 against Rafa, walloped 11 aces with 31 winners and never dropped serve in the 94-minute match.

“I played really well,” said Troicki. “I was aggressive, I served well, I hit the ball nice.

“It was a great feeling on the court playing like this and playing like this against Rafa Nadal, who is a great champion. It makes it extra special to beat him for the first time, especially in such a big tournament like Shanghai.”

Nadal, who hinted his 2016 season could be over, had no answer for the Troicki power. “Hi serve was huge the whole the whole,” Nadal said. “He deserved to win more than me. I need to keep working, adjust things and be confident again.

“It’s the end of the season. It’s a tough part of the season for me, the tournament are difficult.”

Nadal’s loss was part of an upsetting day in Shanghai. Tomas Berdych fell to Marcel Granollers 7-6, 7-6, the hot Grigor Dimitrov was stunned by Vasek Pospisil 7-5, 7-6 and Nick Kyrgios tanked his way out of Shanghai after a poor 6-3, 6-1 loss to qualifier Mischa Zverev.

Andy Murray rolled into the third round beating American Steve Johnson 6-3, 6-2. Murray will now meet Wimbledon and US Open quarterfinalist Lucas Pouille. The Frenchman eliminated Nicolas Almagro 6-4, 7-6(10).

“I felt like I was creating a lot of chances on his serve. I thought I moved well for the first match in new conditions,” Murray said. “I was timing the ball well. I felt like I was controlling a lot of the rallies. Yeah, for a first match after playing pretty different conditions a few days ago, it was good.”

Murray beat Pouille in their only meeting in the Rome semifinals earlier this year.

Feliciano Lopez lost to Jack Sock while Roberto Bautista Agut ended qualifier Taylor Fritz’s run. Milos Raonic and David Goffin were also winners.

On Thursday, 2015 finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga takes on super teen Alexander Zverev. Novak Djokovic faces Pospisil and US Open champion Stan Wawrinka meets Gilles Simon.

THURSDAY SHANGHAI SCHEDULE
STADIUM start 1:00 pm
[9] J. Tsonga (FRA) vs A. Zverev (GER)
[1] N. Djokovic (SRB) vs [Q] V. Pospisil (CAN)

Not Before 6:00 pm
[13] L. Pouille (FRA) vs [2] A. Murray (GBR)

Not Before 8:00 pm
G. Simon (FRA) vs [3] S. Wawrinka (SUI)

UNION PAY 3 start 1:00 pm
[Q] M. Zverev (GER) vs M. Granollers (ESP)
[5] M. Raonic (CAN) vs J. Sock (USA)
V. Troicki (SRB) vs [15] R. Bautista Agut (ESP)

Not Before 6:00 pm
[6] G. Monfils (FRA) vs [11] D. Goffin (BEL)