Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer notched up contrasting victories to reach the Shanghai Masters quarterfinals on Thursday while David Ferrer fought back from a set down to knock out Andy Murray.
World number one Djokovic laboured to a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory over plucky Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin who matched the Serb shot for shot for most of the match before being overpowered in the third set.
Two-time champion Djo-kovic broke Kukushkin for a 5-3 lead before closing out the first set but the Kazakh roared back into contention to stretch the contest to a decider.
Ferrer overcame Murray 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 earlier on Thursday and the Spaniard will now replace the Briton in ninth spot in the race for the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London. There are five berths still up for grabs in the eight-man tournament.
Murray had little trouble in the first set and looked poised for a quarter-finals berth, but Ferrer staged a brilliant comeback, breaking the Briton twice to take the second and level the match.
There was no let up in the final set either as the Spaniard raced to a 5-2 lead and raised his arms in celebration when twice champion Murray buried a return into the net.
Fognini fined
World number 17 Fabio Fognini was fined $2,000 for making an obscene gesture to fans following his embarrassing exit from the Shanghai Masters, a tennis official said Thursday.
The Italian raised his middle finger to spectators as he trudged off court after crashing to 553rd-ranked Wang Chuhan 7-6(7/5), 6-4 on Tuesday.He also appeared to shove the Chinese wildcard at the net after the pair shook hands following their first-round match.
Results (third round, prefix denotes seedings): Singles: 5-David Ferrer (ESP) bt 11-Andy Murray (Bri) 2-6, 6-1, 6-2; Julien Benneteau (Fra) bt Jack Sock (US) 6-3, 6-4; Gilles Simon (Fra) bt Malek Jaziri (Tun) 6-2, 6-3; 6-Tomas Berdych (Cze) bt Ivo Karlovic (Cro) 6-3, 6-4. Feliciano Lopez (ESP) bt 13-John Isner (US) 6-3, 6-4; Mikhail Youzhny (Rus) bt Juan Monaco (Arg) 5-7, 6-3, 6-2; 1-Novak Djokovic (Serb) bt Mikhail Kukushkin 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. 3-Roger Federer (Swi) bt 14-Roberto Bautista (ESP) 6-4, 6-4.
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