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Shanghai - Roger Federer marked a winning return to play on Wednesday with another between-the-legs shot in his 6-3, 6-4 victory over American John Isner at the Shanghai Masters.
Federer was playing his first match since the US Open, where he lost to Novak Djokovic in the semifinals, but showed few signs of rustiness as he moved into the third round, joining Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic.
The third-seeded Swiss broke Isner's big serve twice, but the highlight of his win came in the second set when he chased down a lob and flicked the ball back through his legs. Isner was so surprised, he put his volley into the net.
Federer has successfully pulled off the shot - also known as a "tweener" - at the previous two US Opens as well as at the Dubai Open in 2007.
"I'm hitting that shot so well now, it's almost the most consistent shot in tennis these days," Federer joked.
The top-ranked Nadal, fresh from winning the Japan Open on Sunday, began his quest for an eighth title of the season with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Stanislas Wawrinka.
Wawrinka, a surprise quarterfinalist at the US Open, hit 32 winners to Nadal's 17 and eight aces to Nadal's two - but also finished with 36 unforced errors.
"Wawrinka is a very good player and it's very difficult to have a victory today in straight sets," Nadal said. "I'm happy for that. For sure it wasn't easy, but it wasn't one of these very, very difficult days."
Andy Roddick's hopes of finishing a ninth straight season inside the top 10 suffered a blow when he had to retire from his second-round match against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain while leading 6-3, 2-3.
The American limped to the sideline after dropping his serve in the fourth game of the second set, wincing in pain. He returned to the court after a trainer taped his thigh, but played only one more game before quitting.
After the match, Roddick said he had aggravated his groin muscle in his quarterfinal match at the Japan Open last week and it hadn't fully healed.
"It was to the point where moving at all felt like I was getting stabbed in the leg," he said. "It's just frustrating. You've got to be able to get a little bit of momentum going and I just feel like I haven't been able to do that since April or May."
The American, ranked 11th, has been trying to regain his form after struggling with a mild case of mononucleosis over the summer and suffering disappointing losses at the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.
Roddick also retired in his second-round match in Shanghai last year with knee pain.
Defending champion Nikolay Davydenko also went out of the tournament on Wednesday. The sixth-seeded Russian fell to Mischa Zverev of Germany 6-4, 7-6 (3).
Davydenko dropped six straight points in the second-set tiebreaker, then saved three match points before Zverev clinched it with a forehand winner up the line.
Djokovic and Murray easily reached the third round. The second-ranked Djokovic beat Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia 6-3, 6-3, just two days after winning a rain-delayed final at the China Open.
Djokovic is also playing doubles in Shanghai - partly to prepare for Serbia's Davis Cup final against France in December - but said he wasn't worried the extra matches would tire him out.
"I'm playing well, moving well, motivated mentally and full of energy. I'm hoping that it's going to stay that way," Djokovic said. "I didn't spend that much energy in Beijing. I won without dropping a set the whole tournament."
Djokovic next faces France's Richard Gasquet, who won two matches on Wednesday following Tuesday's rain delays, beating Latvia's Ernests Gulbis 6-1, 6-4 in the afternoon and then upsetting 15th-seeded countryman Gael Monfils, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, in the evening.
The fourth-seeded Murray beat 465th-ranked Chinese wild card Bai Yan 6-2, 6-2. Murray broke his opponent five times, while dropping his own serve only once.
Next up for Murray is French qualifier Jeremy Chardy, who defeated Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine 6-1, 5-7, 6-2.
Other winners included fifth-seeded Robin Soderling of Sweden, No. 11 David Ferrer of Spain, 13th-seeded Jurgen Melzer of Austria and 12th-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, who ousted American Sam Querrey.
Eighth-seeded Mikhail Youzhny of Russia was upset by Florian Mayer of Germany 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-1, and No. 14 Marin Cilic from Croatia was beaten by Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-2, 6-2.
Results (seedings in parentheses):
Singles:-
First Round
Gael Monfils (15), France, def. Benjamin Becker, Germany, 6-1, 7-5.
Andreas Seppi, Italy, def. Marin Cilic (14), Croatia, 6-2, 6-2.
Sam Querrey, United States, def. Michael Berrer, Germany, 6-3, 7-6 (8).
Thomaz Bellucci, Brazil, def. Marsel Llhan, Turkey, 6-1, 2-6, 7-6 (4).
Richard Gasquet, France, def. Ernests Gulbis, Latvia, 6-1, 6-4.
Florian Mayer, Germany, def. Kevin Anderson, South Africa, 6-2, 6-2.
Lu Yen-hsun, Taiwan, def. Di Wu, China, 6-1, 6-4.
Second Round
Roger Federer (3), Switzerland, def. John Isner, United States, 6-3, 6-4.
Rafael Nadal (1), Spain, def. Stanislas Wawrinka, Switzerland, 6-4, 6-4.
Florian Mayer, Germany, def. Mikhail Youzhny (8), Russia, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-1.
David Ferrer (11), Spain, def. Thomaz Bellucci, Brazil, 7-6 (9) 6-3.
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Spain, def. Andy Roddick (10), United States, 3-6, 3-2, retired.
Andy Murray (4), Britain, def. Yan Bai, China, 6-2, 6-2.
Robin Soderling (5), Sweden def. Janko Tipsarevic, Serbia, 6-3, 7-6 (5).
Novak Djokovic (2), Serbia def. Ivan Ljubicic, Croatia, 6-3, 6-3.
Jeremy Chardy, France, def. Alexandr Dolgopolov, Ukraine, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2.
Jurgen Melzer (13), Austria, def. Daniel Gimeno-Traver, Spain, 6-3, 7-6 (2).
Andreas Seppi, Italy, def. Lu Yen-hsun, Taiwan, 7-6 (4), 6-3.
Mischa Zverev, Germany, def. Nikolay Davydenko (6), Russia, 6-4, 7-6 (3).
Juan Monaco, Argentina, def. Thiemo de Bakker, Netherlands, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, France, def. Sam Querrey, United States, 7-6 (7), 6-1.
Richard Gasquet, France, def. Gael Monfils (15), France, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
