SHANGHAI — A grim-faced Rafael Nadal crashed out of the Shanghai Masters Wednesday as Nick Kyrgios departed to boos after perhaps the most spectacular meltdown of his volatile career.
Nadal lost 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) in the second round to Viktor Troicki, his first ever defeat to the Serb and just the latest setback for the fading Spanish great.
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.
Murray moved fluently past Steve Johnson 6-3, 6-2 to make it into third round.
Afterwards Nadal, now 30 and with a catalogue of injuries to his name, vowed to return to top form by next season, mainly by putting the zip back in his forehand and movement.
“I know what I have to do and I’m going to do it,” scowled Nadal, who has dropped to fifth in the world after a misfiring season.
“I’ve got two-and-a-half months until next season starts so I have got two-and-a-half months to put myself at the level I want to be.
“And I’m confident I’m going to do it.”
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.
He later admitted “taking the easy way out” after he gave up on several points during the match, including one Zverev serve which he walked away from before it had landed.
But when asked whether he could understand why fans were upset, he shot back: “Not at all.”
Stan Wawrinka, by contrast, had little trouble as the US Open champion mastered Britain’s Kyle Edmund 6-3, 6-3 to reach the third round.
Canada’s Milos Raonic beat Paolo Lorenzi 6-2, 6-4, but Czech seventh seed Tomas Berdych tumbled 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-1) to Marcel Granollers.
David Goffin beat Benoit Paire 6-1, 7-6 (7-0) and Gilles Simon ended Chinese hopes when he beat wildcard Wu Di 6-2, 6-2.
Top seeds advance at Tianjin
In Beijing, top seeds Agnieszka Radwanska and Svetlana Kuznetsova made short work of their opponents Wednesday to advance in the WTA Tianjin Open.
In the last first-round match, world No. 2 and top seed Radwanska took just an hour to beat Germany’s Tatjana Maria, ranked 105, winning 71 percent of first serve points.
Meanwhile, 31-year-old Kuznetsova, the second seed, advanced to the third round with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Donna Vekic of Croatia, despite hitting one ace to her opponent’s five.
Danka Kovinic of Montenegro lost the first set against American Shelby Rogers. But her opponent only took three more games as Kovinic ran out a 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 winner, notching eight aces and saving seven break points out of 10.
Nishikori qualifies for Finals
Japan’s Kei Nishikori will make a third straight appearance at the ATP Tour Finals next month after becoming the fifth player to qualify for the season-ending tournament, organizers said Wednesday.
The 26-year-old world No. 4 will join the world’s top three — Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Stanislas Wawrinka — plus big-serving sixth-ranked Canadian Milos Raonic in London, the ATP said in a statement.
Muguruza wins Linz opener
French Open champion Garbine Muguruza advanced to the second round of the Generali Ladies by beating Cagla Buyukakcay of Turkey 6-4, 6-4 Wednesday.
The top-seeded Spaniard dropped serve twice and saved six more break points as she struggled for consistency against the 69th-ranked Buyukakcay.
Muguruza, who was a late entry to the event after US Open finalist Karolina Pliskova pulled out, will next play Monica Niculescu of Romania.
French qualifier Oceane Dodin became the first player to reach the quarterfinals by beating Sorana Cirstea of Romania 6-2, 6-4. Earlier, second-seeded Dominika Cibulkova advanced to the second round by beating Belinda Bencic of Switzerland 6-1, 6-2.
Cibulkova will play Annika Beck of Germany for a place in the quarterfinals.
Also, third-seeded Madison Keys of the United States defeated Camila Giorgi of Italy 6-3, 6-4, and Kirsten Flipkens advanced after Mandy Minella of Luxembourg pulled out with a hip injury after the Belgian won the opening set 6-4.
Jankovic advances
Seventh-seeded Jelena Jankovic won the only completed match at the rain-delayed Hong Kong Open Wednesday, beating qualifier Aleksandra Krunic 6-4, 6-3 to advance to the quarterfinals.
Top-ranked Angelique Kerber was leading Louisa Chirico 6-2, 3-6, 2-1 in another second-round match before it was halted by rain.
Also, eighth-seeded Daria Gavrilova was leading Katerina Siniakova 6-2, 1-0 when play was called.
Those matches will be resumed on Thursday, with second-seeded Venus Williams, third-seeded Johanna Konta and fifth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki also scheduled to play in the second round.
