Roger Federer fell to another early loss on Thursday, with Gael Monfils beating him 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3 in the third round of the Shanghai Masters.
The 17-time Grand Slam champion, who has slipped to No. 7 in the rankings, was playing in his first tournament since losing in the fourth round of the U.S. Open.
Federer rallied from a break down in the second set and 5-3 down in the tiebreaker, but couldn’t recover after being broken early in the deciding set.
Monfils, who had a 1-6 record against Federer coming into the match, next plays the winner between top—seeded Novak Djokovic and Italian Fabio Fognini.
