Nadal, Djokovic both lose at Masters Cup

Shanghai, China (Sports Network) - Two of the world's top-three players suffered round-robin losses on Tuesday, as Rafael Nadal succumbed to fellow Spaniard David Ferrer and Serbian Novak Djokovic gave way to Frenchman Richard Gasquet at the $3.7 million Tennis Masters Cup.
A sixth-seeded Ferrer secured a berth in Saturday's semifinals here by coming from behind to beat the second-seeded Nadal 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, while the eighth- seeded Gasquet whipped a third-seeded Djokovic 6-4, 6-2. Nadal is the reigning three-time French Open champion and Wimbledon runner-up, while Djokovic was this year's U.S. Open runner-up.
Ferrer ran out to a 5-1 third-set lead against Nadal here on Day 3 and ultimately prevailed in 2 hours, 40 minutes. Ferrer managed to record one more service break than Nadal, as he piled up a whopping six en route to the big victory at this exclusive eight-player event.
The 25-year-old Ferrer has now won his last two matches against Nadal, with the other win coming in four-set come-from-behind fashion in the fourth round at the U.S. Open in September.
Ferrer stunned Djokovic here on Sunday.
Gasquet opened the evening by dousing Djokovic in 1 hour, 25 minutes, as the Frenchman piled up five breaks, compared to only two for his Serbian counterpart. Gasquet wound up winning 19 more points (64-45) than the struggling Djokovic.
Ferrer currently leads this week's Gold Group with a perfect 2-0 record, while Nadal and Gasquet are both 1-1 and Djokovic has been eliminated from semifinal contention at 0-2 on the indoor hardcourt here at Qi Zhong Stadium.
This week's Red Group features world No. 1 Roger Federer (0-1), fourth-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko (0-1), fifth-seeded American Andy Roddick (1-0) and seventh-seeded Chilean Fernando Gonzalez, who lost to Federer in this year's Australian Open finale, but stunned the supreme Swiss in round-robin action here on Monday. Federer had been a perfect 15-0 in his Masters Cup round-robin matches since 2002.
The 12-time major champion Federer will still finish the year at No. 1 for a fourth straight year. The super Swiss is the reigning U.S. Open, Wimbledon, Aussie Open and Masters Cup titlist and French Open runner-up. He defeated American James Blake in last year's finale here in Shanghai and is seeking his fourth Masters Cup title in five years.
The Masters Cup features round-robin action for the first six days, with the top-two players from each group advancing to the semifinals on Saturday. The lucrative final will be staged here on Sunday.
An undefeated champion in Shanghai would collect over $1.5 million.