Nadal Dumped Out of Shanghai Masters

Top seed Rafael Nadal was sent crashing out of the Shanghai Masters on a dramatic day of action Thursday.

World number two Nadal lost 6-7 (5/7), 3-6 to Germany's Florian Mayer, edged out in a first set tiebreak and broken twice in the second set, stunning the crowd at the Qi Zhong stadium.

Mayer made the crucial breakthrough in the seventh game of the second set to lead 4-3 and the Spaniard could not respond, broken again in the final game with the 15th seed taking his first match point.

"He played really well, I didn't," said Nadal. "I felt that I was not playing badly from the baseline. But my return, when he was serving the first serve, was terrible tonight. I only won four points in the whole match on his first serve."

"For me today is a disappointing day. I felt that I did everything right. I was in the right line since the week before the U.S. Open," added Nadal, who lost in the final at Flushing Meadows to Novak Djokovic.

Mayer, who won his first tour title in Bucharest last month, said after the third round match: "It's a really nice feeling. He's such a great competitor on court. Yeah, for sure it is the biggest win in my career."