Rafael Nadal was upset 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 by Jurgen Melzer in the third round of the Shanghai Masters.
Melzer played aggressively from the start, hitting booming forehand winners and attacking Nadal’s second serve to break him twice and capture the opening set in 40 minutes.
Nadal got into the match in the second set, breaking Melzer with a running backhand down the line and that was the only break he needed to send the match into the decider.
Melzer was able to break Nadal in the fifth game of the third set to take the lead. Rafa saved three match points on his serve, but Melzer easily put the match away on his next serve.
"I think the key was to put a lot of pressure on him," admitted Melzer. "You cannot let him play his game. You'll always be second. That play with his forehand, he's just too good.
"So I tried to take the ball early. I was serving really well, especially on big moments. I executed my game plan, which was putting a lot of pressure, especially on his forehand."
"To be honest, I learned from the last matches," Melzer added. "The first one at the Olympics was a blowout. Then I think I played a very good match [at Roland Garros] against him. Although I lost in three sets, I was very close in winning one. Clay is his best surface. I'm very happy."
"I felt slow on court," said Nadal. "I had more mistakes than usual. I played shorter than usual. [I was] a little bit more tired than usual, just physically and mentally. [I] just [want to] congratulate him. It's true, he played very aggressive, but [it] wasn't very difficult [to] play that aggressive against me today."
"I am very, very happy about what happened to me during all the year," said Nadal. "Two tournaments [remain] for me. [I will] enjoy these ones and try to play better than today."
Source ATP/Reuters
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