Roger Federer loses opening match at Shanghai Masters

Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas said his father was so nervous he couldn’t work and his mother was running around the house as they watched their son upend Roger Federer at the Shanghai Masters on Tuesday.

“Before the match I thought I’m not going to win”.

But the resilient Spaniard somehow found a way to stop the Federer tide in the deciding set and managed to force a break-point at 4-3. As if on cue, 27-year-old qualifier Albert Ramos-Vinolas, who until two weeks ago was battling it out on slow clay at the Catalan Championships, threw his arms up in triumph, eyes bright, fists clenched. Ramos-Vinolas earned a crucial break in the eighth game and went on to serve out victory to 30.

“I was aware that he could give me a tough workout and even beat me”, said Federer.

“The margins are so small, that s why I sometimes struggle to talk to you guys about, Yeah, I d like to play Novak (Djokovic) in the finals, Rafa (Nadal) in the semis, (Jo-Wilfried) Tsonga in the second round”.

However, Roger would come out fighting in the second set and his power and precision was too much for the Spaniard, whose serve was broken twice.

As second-round opponents go, 116th-ranked Sergiy Stakhovsky looked as easy as they come for Federer but the Ukrainian unknown wrote himself into grand slam lore with a stunning display in front of an uncomprehending Wimbledon crowd.

It is Ramos-Vinolas’s first-ever win at the 16th attempt against a top-10 player.

“I played him at Wimbledon before, so I knew him. I am very happy because it’s the most important victory for me”.

Federer’s exit now leaves the bottom half of the draw wide open to a range of men hoping to make big points from a deep run to strengthen their World Tour Finals claim.

Federer responded in the second set with a pair of breaks to take it 6-2, but he failed to win the decider as Ramos-Vinolas caused a huge upset. Another is Marin Cilic, who beat fellow Croat Borna Coric, 6-1, 6-2, to reach the third round, and will next play the victor between Wawrinka and Troicki.