Shanghai: Viktor Troicki claimed one of his biggest wins of the season here Wednesday as he defeated Rafael Nadal 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) in the second round of the Shanghai Rolex Masters. The Serbian had never beaten Nadal in five previous attempts, but pulled off the upset as he held his nerve for victory in 94 minutes.
“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 threw everything at Troicki to stay in the match, but ultimately the Serbian’s bravery to go for the big shots paid dividends. The Serbian broke twice to seal the opener before Nadal came back strongly in the second set. The Spaniard saved a match point on his own serve in the 10th game with superb defence to retrieve a rifling Troicki forehand. But in the ensuing tie-break, Troicki was always in command and clinched victory with a backhand return winner.
Meanwhile Canadian Vasek Pospisil earned a third-round meeting with World No. 1 Novak Djokovic after beating Grigor Dimitrov 7-5, 7-6 (7-2). It was overall a good day for Canadian players as fifth seed Milos Raonic served 22 aces en route to a 6-2, 6-4 win over Paolo Lorenzi of Italy.
Contrasting fortunes awaited the British players though. Third seed Swiss, Stan Wawrinka hammered Kyle Edmund 6-3, 6-4 in just 68 minutes. However, second seed Andy Murray playing the last match of the day trounced Steve Johnson of the US 6-3, 6-2 without much of a problem.
Agencies
