• Shanghai Masters

'Dizzy' Nadal falls to Lopez in Shanghai

Rafael Nadal was sent out in Shanghai by countryman Feliciano Lopez © Getty Images

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Rafael Nadal lost his opening match at the Shanghai Masters on Wednesday, only days after appendicitis left him bedridden and uncertain if he'd be able to compete.

Lacking power on his serve and groundstrokes, the world No.2 lost to Feliciano Lopez 6-3 7-6(6) after squandering a 5-2 lead in the second set.

Nadal said he felt a little dizzy from the antibiotics used to treat the appendicitis, but wasn't in a great deal of pain after not being able to sleep, eat or even get out of bed for several days prior to being diagnosed. He planned to have surgery to remove his appendix sometime before the end of the year.

"For sure [I don't feel] perfect," said Nadal. "It's the same way that I felt before. A little bit more dizzy now. But that's it. Nothing that I have to worry about. When you lose a match, it is not the moment to talk about obvious things. I lost. Feli played better than me.

"Even today the doctors told me that I was very, very lucky that I did not have to go for surgery straight, can [treat] with antibiotics. Pain I think is under control. That's important. I think I was lucky for that."

The 14-time grand slam winner had just returned to the tour after two months on the sidelines with a wrist injury. Now he faces likely surgery to have his appendix removed, which could keep him out of the World Tour Finals in London next month.

"My answer today honestly is I'm going to do it after the World Tour Finals. You never know. Depends how things improve," Nadal said. "When you are on the bed for three days, the only thing you want to do is feel better, feel healthy again, and that's it.

Roger Federer saved five match points before beating Leonardo Mayer 7-5 3-6 7-6(7) © Getty Images

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"Is true that the past few months I did not have the best of luck. I didn't have the best of luck since Wimbledon. I was playing a good year, very positive year. After that I was unlucky with the wrist, what's going on now. Now there remains three more tournaments for me."

The world No.2 joins several other big names of world tennis in crashing out of the Shanghai event, with Stanislas Wawrinka, Kei Nishikori, Milos Raonic and Grigor Dimitrov all suffering defeats.

Meanwhile, Roger Federer saved five match points and rallied from 5-2 down in the third-set tiebreaker before finally beating Leonardo Mayer 7-5 3-6 7-6(7) in a thrilling second-round match.

Federer hadn't played since helping Switzerland beat Italy to reach the Davis Cup final a month ago, and the inactivity showed. He made an uncharacteristic 57 unforced errors and only won about half of his points at the net.

He got a little lucky, though. On Mayer's first match point at 5-4 in the third, the Argentine aimed a backhand passing shot down the line but the ball clipped the tape and fell back on his side of the net. Federer finally put it away on his first match point with a backhand lob that just caught the line.

Novak Djokovic also extended his unbeaten streak in China to 26 straight matches with a 6-3 6-4 win over Dominic Thiem of Austria, at 21, the youngest player in the top 50.

Earlier, Jack Sock upset US Open finalist Nishikori 7-6(5) 6-4 to claim his place in the third round. He will face Julien Benneteau for a quarter-final berth after the Frenchman staged a surprise of his own, defeating Dimitrov 7-5 6-3 to seal a third-round spot.

Wawrinka lost early for the second straight week, squandering a 3-0 lead in the final set before falling to Gilles Simon 5-7 7-5 6-4.

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