Querrey snaps Nishikori's run; Tsonga scores

Tennis Shanghai Masters: Walkover for Murray, Federer wins

Kei Nishikori’s dream run that took him to the Japan Open tennis title last week was cut short in China when he lost 6-2, 1-6, 4-6 to Sam Querrey of the US in the second round of the Shanghai Masters on Wednesday.

The 14th seed, who became the home country’s first Japan Open champion on Sunday, won the first set and went 3-1 up in the third before Querrey rallied to beat him.

“I tried to play, but he had a good serve. I broke him first in the third set but couldn’t finish the match. It’s disappointing,” the Japanese world number 15 told reporters. “I had some serious pain in my right ankle. It hurt all the way through the Japan Open and hurt yesterday and today.

“My left knee also hurt. If I am honest my whole body is tired. Today I also played to my absolute limit until the end.”

The 22-year-old Japanese romped into a 4-0 lead and sealed the opener despite a medical timeout late in the set. But a missed overhead early in the second set contributed to an early break for Querrey and the Japanese 14th seed lost his rhythm, showing his frustration as his rejuvenated opponent, ranked 22nd, levelled the match.

In the third set two breaks of serve proved costly for Nishikori, who is at a career high of number 15 in the rankings after his weekend win over Canada’s Milos Raonic, his first on the Tour since 2008.

World number one and top seed Roger Federer of Switzerland opened his campaign with a 6-3, 7-5 win over qualifier Lu Yen-Hsun of Taiwan.

Federer, who broke his opponent once in each set, will take on compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka in the third round.

Defending champion Andy Murray was handed a walkover into the third round. US Open champion Murray did not even have to take to the court as Germany's Florian Mayer withdrew with a rib injury. “I’ll practise again. I mean, you never know whether it’s a good or a bad thing. I mean, you’re obviously prepared to play the match,” said Murray.
“Yeah, sometimes it happens when you get a walkover. You just need to make sure you do enough practice and stay sharp.”

Also in second-round action, second seed Novak Djokovic cruised through his tournament opener and there were wins for fourth seed Tomas Berdych and 13th seed Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland.

Djokovic, who has a shot at regaining the world number one ranking if he wins the title and Federer loses before the quarterfinals, dismissed Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 6-2.

Results (second round): 6-Janko Tipsarevic (Srb) bt Viktor Troicki (Srb) 6-2, 7-6 (7-3); 1-Roger Federer (Sui) bt Lu Yen-Hsun (Twn) 6-3, 7-5; Radek Stepanek (Cze) bt 11-Richard Gasquet (Fra) 6-4, 6-4; Tommy Haas (Ger) bt Tommy Robredo (Esp) 6-3, 6-3; Alexandr Dolgopolov (Ukr) bt 15-Gilles Simon (Fra) 6-3, 6-4; 5-Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Fra) bt Benoit Paire (Fra) 7-6 (9-7), 7-5; Marcos Baghdatis (Cyp) bt 12-Milos Raonic (Can) 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-3); 3-Andy Murray (Gbr) w/o Florian Mayer (Ger); 13-Stanislas Wawrinka (Sui) bt Denis Istomin (Uzb) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4; 2-Novak Djokovic (Srb) bt Grigor Dimitrov (Bul) 6-3, 6-2; Sam Querrey (US) bt 14-Kei Nishikori (Jpn) 2-6, 6-1, 6-4; 4-Tomas Berdych (Cze) bt Andreas Seppi (Ita) 6-3, 6-3; Feliciano Lopez (Esp) bt 16-Philipp Kohlschreiber (Ger) 6-3, 6-4.