SHANGHAI, October 12, 2016

Rafael Nadal lost his opening match in the second round of the Shanghai Rolex Masters, as Viktor Troicki defeated the Spaniard 6-3, 7-6 on Wednesday.

The Serbian had never beaten Nadal in five previous meetings, but pulled off the upset by holding his nerves for victory in one hour and 34 minutes.

“I played really well,” said Troicki, who will next take on Roberto Bautista-Agut. “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.

“I’m really glad how I played. Happy how I played. I hope I will continue to do that in the next rounds.”

Nadal is currently seventh in the Emirates ATP Race To London and actually still in the battle to qualify for the season finale.

”I cannot say now what I’m going do during the next month,” Nadal said. ”Sometimes to keep competing is not the solution. Sometimes the solution is practice … and have a process of training. And maybe that’s an opportunity to do it. I still have two and a half months (until the end of the season) to put myself where I want to be (at the start of 2017).”

Third seed Stan Wawrinka advanced to the third round with a 6-3, 6-4 win over British qualifier Kyle Edmund to play Gilles Simon next. The tournament’s number two Andy Murray eased past Steve Johnson, winning 6-3, 6-2 in 74 minutes. Next up for Murray will be 13th favourite Lucas Pouille of France.