Defending champion Roger Federer lost his opening match at the Shanghai Masters on Tuesday, falling to Spanish qualifier Albert Ramos-Vinolas 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-3.
The 17-time Grand Slam champion failed to convert two break points in the opening set and made a flurry of backhand errors to lose the tiebreaker. Ramos-Vinolas then broke Federer in the eighth game of the third set with a forehand winner down the line and held the next game to close it out.
The last time Federer and Ramos-Vinolas played, at Wimbledon in 2012, the Spaniard won only three games. Ramos-Vinolas also came into the match with a 0-15 record against top-10 players.
"I'm always cautious," Federer said. "I don't underestimate or lack respect for anybody out there. These guys are all touring professionals, they know what they're doing."
Federer hasn't played since helping Switzerland win a Davis Cup match the week after losing to Novak Djokovic in the US Open final.
"I just think the first round here in Shanghai has always been historically quite difficult, getting used to the conditions and the surface and the balls," Federer said. "But he did a good job. You could see he's been in the groove."
Ramos-Vinolas has been on a roll, albeit in lower-tier tournaments. last month, he was asked to play the Ca
In other matches, former US Open champion Marin Cilic defeated Borna Coric 6-1, 6-2.
Also, ninth-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada beat Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil 7-6 (5), 7-6 (2); No. 10 Gilles Simon of France beat Georgian qualifier Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-3, 4-6, 6-0; No. 11 Richard Gasquet defeated Gilles Muller of luxembourg 7-6 (4), 6-2; and No. 12 Kevin Anderson of South Africa eliminated 37-year-old Tommy Haas of Germany 6-3, 7-5.
Venus advances
HONG KONG: Venus Williams rallied to beat Yuliya Beygelzimer of Ukraine 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 on Tuesday in the opening round of the Hong Kong Open.
The third-seeded Williams wore a bandage on her left thigh and looked hampered in her movements. However, she came from a break down three times in the final set to close out the win in 2 hours, 13 minutes.
Pennetta loses
TIANJIN (China): US Open champion Flavia Pennetta lost in the first round of the Tianjin Open on Tuesday, hurting her chances of qualifying for the WTA Finals in Singapore. The top-seeded Italian lost to No. 414-ranked qualifier lyudmyla Kichenok of Ukraine 6-3, 7-5.
Pennetta is currently in the eighth and final spot to qualify for the WTA Finals, but only has a 20-point lead over Timea Bacsinszky.