SHANGHAI (AP) - Rafael Nadal was ousted in the third round of the Shanghai Masters by Germany’s Florian Mayer, 7-6 (5), 6-3.
The 15th-seeded German ran down a drop shot and flicked it past Nadal at the net to break the top-seeded Spaniard for the second time and win the match.
Nadal lost in the third round in Shanghai for the second straight year. Last year, he fell to Austria’s Jurgen Melzer a few weeks after winning his first U.S. Open title.
It’s only the second time in 16 tournaments this year that Nadal has failed to make the quarterfinals. He fell in the second round of the Canadian Open to Croatia’s Ivan Dodig in August.
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