Defending champion Roger Federer crashed out in his opening Shanghai Masters match against world number 70 Albert Ramos, going down 7-6, 2-6, 6-4.
Federer, who had not appeared on tour since the US Open was expected to brush past the Spaniard, who has found more joy on the Challenger season this campaign, but came up against an inspired opponent who played a near-perfect match and moved the Swiss star around the court with his groundstrokes from the back of the court.
Ramos, an old-school claycourter, set about interchanging long rallies from the off with Federer and was clearly buoyed after getting through qualifying and posting an impressive first round victory over Sam Querrey. After saving a couple of break points in his opening service game, Ramos started to find a groove and pushed Federer all the way to a tie break, which in itself was a triumph for the Spaniard who had gone down 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 in their only previous meeting at Wimbledon.
Here most would have expected Federer to take things up a couple of gears, but perhaps hindered by a lack of court time since the US Open, it was the more consistent left hander who shocked the entire arena by claiming the opening set.
In the second set Federer finally managed to break through Ramos’ serve which, without being potent, is an intelligent and tricky left handed serve. The defending champion started taking control of the match and broke Ramos’ serve once again to close out a comfortable second set in which the tide was visibly turning.
But in the third set, instead of being downbeat, Ramos came out with a nothing-to-lose attitude and started putting some venom into his strokes and, following in the footsteps of his left-handed compatriot Nadal, looked to break down Federer’s backhand, which has historically struggled against heavy top spin coming from a left handed stroke. At 4-3 Ramos not only stunned the crowd but also surprised an agitated Federer, who seemed to have no reply for the balls being hit towards him but who also had the look of a man who did not expect this part to be in the script. Ramos broke and had the chance to serve out for the biggest win of his career, a task which can get the best of many. Ramos kept his nerve as if he had been in this situation a million times and it was another Federer mistake on the backhand which put the final nail in the coffin. The greatest victory of Ramos’ career and possibly the toughest of Federer’s season, as the lowest ranked opponent to have defeated the Swiss player in 2015 before Ramos was Andreas Seppi, who knocked out Federer in the third round of the Australian Open when he was ranked 46.
Next up for Ramos will be the winner of Tsonga v Estrella, and for Federer, time to reflect and prepare for the season finale, with a main focus on the World Tour Finals.
