Rafael Nadal, renowned from his ferocious game and battling qualities, says that he will look to restore his sledgehammer forehand in order to return to top form on the ATP World Tour.

Following his opening-round exit to Viktor Troicki on Wednesday at the Shanghai Rolex Masters, the former World No. 1 admitted, “I need to recover the forehand. I know I need to hit forehands. Every time that I hit the forehand, I need to create pain for my opponent.

“It is something that is not happening very often now, and it’s something that needs to happen for the next year… If that happens, then, for sure, I need to recover a little bit the electricity in my legs. I need to move faster to hit more forehands. But I need to be more confident with the forehand to make that happen. Everything is a cycle. I need to do the things together.”

The 30-year-old Nadal, who has suffered wrist problems this year, dropped to a 39-14 match record (15-6 at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments).

“I need to play my matches, to practise more and just to keep playing,” said Nadal. “I know what I have to do and I am going do it. I have two-and-a-half months until the new season starts, so I have two-and-a-half months to put myself at the level that I need to be. I have the confidence that I’m going do it.”

The Spaniard is looking to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for the 12th successive year. He is currently No. 7 in the Emirates ATP Race To London with just three spots left up for grabs at the season finale, to be held at The O2 in London from 13-20 November.

Andy Murray had little trouble taking his seventh consecutive tour-level victory on Wednesday at the Shanghai Rolex Masters. The second seed needed 75 minutes to beat Steve Johnson 6-3, 6-2 and improve his FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Johnson to 3-0.

The American had forced Murray to pull out a third-set tie-break the last time they played, at the Rio Olympics. But Murray was on from the start of their second-round match in Shanghai. The Brit saved the only break point he faced in the first set and never gave Johnson a look at another one. The two-time Shanghai champion also feasted on Johnson’s second serve, winning 70 per cent of his second-serve return points (14/20).

Murray moves into the third round of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament, where he’ll face Frenchman Lucas Pouille for the second time. The Brit claimed their earlier contest, 6-2, 6-1 win at Rome.

Pouille survived a tight second-round affair against unseeded Nicolas Almagro, needing 90 minutes to beat the Spaniard 6-4, 7-6(10). Pouille, the 13^th seed, won 75 per cent of his service points, including 66 per cent of his second-serve points.

Fifteenth seed Roberto Bautista Agut advanced 6-4, 6-4 against American qualifier Taylor Fritz, a member of the ATP Next Generation. Both players didn’t give any breaks away. Bautista Agut saved all seven break points faced; Fritz erased eight of 10.

The Spaniard will meet Serbian Viktor Troicki in the third round. Troicki stunned Rafael Nadal 6-3, 7-6(3).

No. 2 seed Andy Murray, No. 3 seed Stan Wawrinka and No. 4 seed Rafael Nadal, along with Chinese No. 1 Di Wu, feature at the Shanghai Rolex Masters on Wednesday.

Play on Stadium begins with Wawrinka taking on 21-year-old qualifier Kyle Edmund, who enters at a career-high No. 48 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. The #NextGen star lost to Murray in the Beijing quarter-finals on Friday before winning matches on Saturday, Sunday and Monday in Shanghai. Edmund recently reached the fourth round at the US Open, falling to Novak Djokovic before the Serbian star was beaten by Wawrinka in a four-set final.

In the second match, Wu, the only Chinese player to win an ATP Challenger Tour singles title, faces 2014 Shanghai finalist Gilles Simon for a spot in the third round. The wild card Wu defeated No. 16 seed Pablo Cuevas for his second ATP World Tour win on Sunday, surviving a back-and-forth final set that featured 10 service breaks before the tiebreaker. Later on Stadium, Nadal takes a 5-0 FedEx ATP Head 2 Head record into his meeting with Viktor Troicki. 

Murray caps the Stadium schedule against American Steve Johnson in a rematch of the 2015 Shanghai second round. The Brit won 6-2, 6-4, but Johnson served with a 4-3 third-set lead when he met Murray again in the Rio Olympics quarter-finals. Murray broke back and went on to win his second gold medal. Also among his 40 titles are four won in China: 2010 and 2011 Shanghai Rolex Masters, 2014 Shenzhen Open and 2016 China Open.

Johnson and Edmund are seeking their biggest wins on Wednesday, as are Paolo Lorenzi against World No. 6 Milos Raonic and qualifier Taylor Fritz against World No. 19 Roberto Bautista Agut. Lorenzi is 0-14 lifetime versus Top 10 opponents, while Fritz is 0-7 against Top 20 players. Also on Union Pay 3, Tomas Berdych could inch within 245 points of Dominic Thiem in the Emirates ATP Race to London by beating Marcel Granollers. Thiem is No. 8 in the race, with only the Top 8 players ensured a berth at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. 

Also trying to track Thiem down are No. 11 seed David Goffin, No. 12 seed Nick Kyrgios and No. 13 seed Lucas Pouille, who all play on Grandstand. Kyrgios defeated Goffin in the Tokyo final on Sunday, but still trails the Belgian by 50 race points. The Emirates ATP Doubles Race to London is also heating up with first-and second-round matches on Courts 4, 5 and 6. As in the singles race, four spots remain in doubles at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. Among the contenders in action Wednesday are Raven Klaasen/Rajeev Ram, Treat Huey/Max Mirnyi and Henri Kontinen/John Peers, who are sixth, seventh and eighth in the race respectively.

Looking ahead, Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares would pass Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut, the No. 1 team in the race, by winning their Shanghai quarter-final on Friday. Murray and Soares have yet to play a point this week after receiving a first-round bye and a second-round walkover. Herbert and Mahut, who now lead Murray and Soares by five race points, are not in the Shanghai Rolex Masters field this week. In addition, Murray would reclaim the No. 1 doubles ranking from Mahut individually if he and Soares reach the Shanghai final.

Even though he’s had an outstanding year on the doubles court, Ivan Dodig still has plenty of motivation for big results in singles.

The 31-year-old Croatian is competing at this week’s $125,000 ATP Challenger Tour event in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Dodig was a late entry into the tournament and played through the qualifying draw as a result. After advancing into the main draw, he won his first-round match on Monday over Aldin Setkic of Bosnia.

“I’m coming back from a back injury and feeling better now,” said Dodig. “I decided to come and play here at the last minute, but I think it was a good decision.”

Currently ranked No. 92 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, Dodig had a solid start to the season that included a quarter-final showing at the 2016 BMW Open by FWU AG and a runner-up finish at the $75,000 Challenger this January in Canberra, Australia. In doubles, he and Marcelo Melo are a likely bet to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals after winning titles at the Rogers Cup and Western & Southern Open.

Although Dodig admitted he can be difficult to balance a top doubles career with his singles, he is determined to continue the juggling act.

“It’s physically tough and mentally tiring because you play over 100 matches in a year doing both singles and doubles. But for the next two years, I want to be in the Top 100 [of the Emirates ATP Rankings] for singles and Top 5 for doubles,” said Dodig. “I love tennis and want to play as much as I can, so I’ll mostly concentrate on doubles in a couple of years so I can play for longer.”

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Dodig is hoping for a strong end to his year in singles that’s similar to what he produced last year. The Croatian won three Challengers in three months, prevailing at French Challengers in St. Remy and Brest before winning another title in Andria, Italy. Making his first appearance in Tashkent since reaching the semi-finals in 2012, Dodig said he knows he’ll have to play his best tennis to be the last man standing on Sunday.

“I wanted to come back here because this tournament is one of the toughest Challengers. It’s like an ATP World Tour event here,” said Dodig. “I hope to do well here again and make it work for me once again.”