Roger Federer suffers shock defeat at Shanghai Masters
World No. 2 Roger Federer, who had a first-round bye at the Shanghai Masters, an ATP1000 event, suffered a shock defeat to Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas in today’s second round match. The Swiss Maestro, who lost the match 6-7, 6-2, 3-6, was the defending champion at the tournament, and has now moved down to World No. 3.
27-year-old Ramos-Vinolas has never progressed beyond the second round of a Grand Slam match, with the most recent of his Slam match victories at Wimbledon earlier this year, where the 70th-ranked player beat Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan.
Ramos-Vinolas is set to face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the next round of the Shanghai Masters, after the tall Frenchman dispatched his Dominican competitor Victor Estrella Burgos.
16th seeded Tsonga and Ramos-Vinolas last faced each other at Wimbledon this year, when Tsonga made short work of the Spaniard, beating him 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
The two have previously met on only one occasion – at the Qatar Open in 2012, which saw Ramos Vinolas defeated 6-1, 6-2.
Federer’s match today was his first competitive tennis tournament since the US Open final this year, where he lost to World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in a 4-setter.
The Swiss has won 5 ATP titles this year, but not a single Grand Slam. He lost to Djokovic at the finals of Wimbledon and the US Open and to compatriot Stan Wawrinka at the quarterfinals of the French Open (a tournament Wawrinka would go on to win). He also crashed out in the Round of 32 at the Australian Open after being upset by Italian Andreas Seppi.