Andy Murray rose above a day of chaos at the ATP Shanghai Masters on Wednesday as Rafael Nadal fell at the first hurdle and Nick Kyrgios melted down in spectacular fashion.
Murray, seeking to wrest the World No. 1 ranking from Novak Djokovic by the year’s end, moved fluently past America’s Steve Johnson 6-3, 6-2 to reach the third round.
It was a very different story for Nadal, who departed grim-faced and with his ardent fans in tears after a shock 6-3, 7-6(3) defeat to Viktor Troicki.
Chinese fans brandished pictures of Nadal — including one of him in his underwear — but some were left in tears as the 14-time Grand Slam champion was well beaten.
Earlier, Australia’s Kyrgios lashed out at fans and insisted “I don’t owe them anything” after he was booed off court in tempestuous scenes at Shanghai’s Grandstand court.
The hot-headed World No. 14 clashed with the chair umpire and a heckler and admitted not trying after he lost 6-3, 6-1 to German qualifier Mischa Zverev, the World No. 110.
Kyrgios was slapped with a code violation for an audible obscenity and was warned to play properly after he patted a child-like serve into his opponent’s court.
Kyrgios is known for his poor behaviour on court. Last year he received a suspended one-month ban for making a lewd and personal comment during a match with Stan Wawrinka.
Berdych loses Canada’s Milos Raonic beat Paolo Lorenzi 6-2, 6-4, but Czech seventh seed Tomas Berdych tumbled 7-6(4), 7-6(1) to Marcel Granollers.
The results: At Shanghai: ATP Shanghai Masters: Second round: Marcel Granollers bt Tomas Berdych 7-6(4), 7-6(1); Stan Wawrinka bt Kyle Edmund 6-3, 6-4; David Goffin bt Benoit Paire 6-1, 7-6(0); Milos Raonic bt Paolo Lorenzi 6-2, 6-4; Jack Sock bt Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 4-6, 6-4; Gilles Simon bt Di Wu 6-2, 6-2; Vasek Pospisil bt Grigor Dimitrov 7-5, 7-6(2); Mischa Zverev bt Nick Kyrgios 6-3, 6-1; Lucas Pouille bt Nicolas Almagro 6-4, 7-6(10).
Viktor Troicki bt Rafael Nadal 6-3, 7-6(3); Roberto Bautista Agut bt Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-4; Andy Murray bt Steve Johnson 6-3, 6-2; Novak Djokovic bt Fabio Fognini 6-3, 6-3; Jo-Wilfried Tsonga bt Janko Tipsarevic 6-3, 7-6(6); Gael Monfils bt Kevin Anderson 7-6(4), 6-3; Alexander Zverev bt Marin Cilic 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
First round: Granollers bt Yuichi Sugita 7-5, 7-6(2); Paolo Lorenzi bt Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 5-7, 7-6(2), 6-3; Feliciano Lopez bt David Ferrer 7-6(3), 4-6, 7-6(4); Lucas Pouille bt Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-3; Goffin bt Juan Martin del Potro 4-6, 6-3, 7-5; Nick Kyrgios bt Sam Querrey 6-4, 6-4; Grigor Dimitrov bt Richard Gasquet 6-4, 6-4; Agut bt Bernard Tomic 6-3, 3-0 (retd.); Sock bt Guido Pella 7-6(3), 7-5; Gilles Simon bt Pablo Carreno 6-0, 6-3.
At Beijing: WTA Tianjin Open: Second round: Danka Kovinic bt Shelby Rogers 2-6, 6-1, 6-2; Naomi Osaka bt Lucie Hradecka 6-2, 7-6(4); Svetlana Kuznetsova bt Donna Vekic 7-5, 6-4. First round: Agnieszka Radwanska bt Tatjana Maria 6-1, 6-2.
