Rafael Nadal was sent packing in his opening match at the 2016 Shanghai Rolex Masters at the hands of the on-point Viktor Troicki. The powerful Serbian seemingly could not miss for an hour and 34 minutes and he blew the former world number one off the court with a 6-3, 7-6(3) victory. The loss was massive missed opportunity for Nadal to gain valuable points in the ATP Race to London.
Troicki’s Persistence Pays Off
Troicki came out swinging in the opening game, immediately racing ahead 15-40 on the Nadal serve. On that occasion, Nadal saved the first break point with a forehand before Troicki missed the second with a forehand error, but the tone had been set. The Serbian was blasting the ball at every opportunity and was managing to out-hit the Spaniard in the rallies. On his own serve, Troicki gave Nadal no opportunities.
At 3-3, Nadal held game points but let the Serbian back into the game with errors. Troicki would win a titanic rally to level at deuce and soon found himself at break point. Nadal’s forehand was shaky for much of the day, and it cost him here as he missed a forehand to surrender the break. Serving to stay in the set two games later, another long rally ended in a Nadal error to give Troicki a break and set point. The Serbian would rip a forehand down the line to wrap up the opening set. Troicki did not lose a point on his first serve in the opening set.
Troicki Wears Down Nadal
After exchanging holds to start the set, Troicki started to look human in the third game when he finally lost a point on his first serve before blowing a lead and letting Nadal back to deuce before battling to a hold. Troicki seemed to regain his footing on serve after that, even though Nadal was even more dominant, winning 12 of 13 points on serve through his first three games. But the Spaniard cooled off quickly, having to dig out of a 0-30 hole in the eighth game and eventually holding at AD-40 when he ripped a crosscourt passing shot for a winner.
Serving to stay in the match, Nadal seemed finished when he fell behind 30-40, match point, and was on the run under a Troicki barrage. Somehow, he managed to flick a deep forehand from a defensive position that forced Troicki back and the Serbian missed the forehand to let Nadal off the hook. The Spaniard would hold and held again two games later to force a tiebreak.
In the tiebreak, it seemed like Nadal was in control when he grabbed a minibreak on the first point, only for Troicki to bounce right back and take both points on the Nadal serve, stretching his lead to 4-1. After an amazing drop volley from Nadal to stop the run, Troicki outmuscled the Spaniard in a 38-shot rally to take a 5-2 lead. Serving for the match, the Serbian only managed one point, but sat at triple match point as Nadal looked to stay in the match. It took one shot for Troicki to finish it, as he ripped a backhand crosscourt return winner to wrap up the dominant upset.
By the Numbers
Troicki was all over Nadal in this one. He more than doubled his opponent in winners, 31 to 20, and only lost three points on his first serve in the entire match, 91 percent, capping it off with 11 aces. Perhaps most impressively, the Serbian did not face a break point in the match. He converted two of his five break points. Despite an impressive 71 percent of second serve points won, Nadal only managed to win 58 percent of his first serve points.
Troicki will play Roberto Bautista Agut in the third round. The good news for Nadal is that with Tomas Berdych’s loss, he will remain in the top eight in the Race to London.