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Nadal loses baseline battle
13/11/2007 16:50 - (SA)
Shanghai - World number two Rafael Nadal
was upset 4-6 6-4 6-3 by fellow Spaniard David Ferrer at the
season-ending Tennis Masters Cup on Tuesday.
A inspired Ferrer won a pulsating baseline battle to improve
his round-robin record to 2-0, virtually assuring himself a spot
in the last four of the season-ending event in Shanghai.
Nadal, who beat Frenchman Richard Gasquet in his opener at
the weekend, must now beat Serbia's Novak Djokovic in his final
Gold Group match to advance.
Gasquet knocked Djokovic out of the showcase eight-man
tournament with a 6-4 6-2 victory in the day's early match.
Nadal produced some astonishing recovery shots, including a
no-look drop shot, where he scrambled to reach a stop-volley and
dinked the ball across a stunned Ferrer while looking down the
line.
But after taking a first set punctuated by five breaks of
serve, Nadal faltered late in the second, Ferrer forcing him
into a wild forehand to level the match.
Nadal, both knees taped after suffering from tendonitis
coming into the tournament, had no answer to Ferrer's relentless
pressure in the decider.
Ferrer, who beat Nadal in their previous meeting at this
year's US Open, closed out a marathon tussle after two hours
and 40 minutes with a pummelling cross-court backhand.
Nadal's defeat comes a day after World number one Roger
Federer was stunned by Chile's Fernando Gonzalez in his opening
Red Group match of the $4.45m event.
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