Nadal through to third round

Nadal: Through to third round

If I continue like this, with this motivation, I'm going to come back to playing my best tennis

Rafael Nadal
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World number two Rafael Nadal overcame a scare against James Blake to advance to the third round of the Shanghai ATP Masters.

The top seed fought hard against his American adversary to secure a 6-2 6-7 (7-4) 6-4 win in just under two and a quarter hours.

After Nadal cruised through the first set, Blake hit back to level and appeared likely to force a second tie-break in the deciding set, but the Spaniard answered with a powerful forehand to seal the win.

"It's been a difficult year for me, so every victory is really important for me," said Nadal.

"I thought I deserved to win the match because most of the time I think I played better than James.

"If I continue like this, with this motivation, I'm going to come back to playing my best tennis."

The win marked the Spaniard's second victory over Blake in a week after he beat the American in three sets on his way to the semi-finals of the China Open in Beijing.

The 23-year-old will now face 14th seed compatriot Tommy Robredo, who defeated German qualifier Florian Mayer 4-6 7-6 (10-8) 6-4.

Another German to make a second-round exit was Tommy Haas, who retired due to injury after dropping the first set 6-4, handing opponent Rainer Schuettler his pass into the final 16.

Injury

Jurgen Melzer of Austria advanced after third seed and US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro became yet another injury casualty - this time with a wrist problem - bwhilst trailing 7-5 2-1.

"I had this injury in Miami this year and I don't want to risk for the end of the season," said Del Potro.

"I'm a little sorry. It's a big tournament here in Shanghai, very important for me, but if I want to have a good finish this season, I have to recover."

Melzer will now face a third-round meeting with Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, who defeated 16th-seeded countryman David Ferrer 4-6 7-5 6-1.

Fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France and ninth seed Robin Soderling of Sweden are set to meet, with both players battling to qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals.

Tsonga advanced with a 6-3 6-3 victory over Chinese wild card Shao-Xuan Zeng whilst Soderling beat Spaniard Nicolas Almagro 6-4 7-5 in a match punctuated by big serves.

Russian Marat Safin, who is due to retire in a month's time, suffered a 3-6 6-4 6-4 loss to Czech Tomas Berdych, with the match ending in some controversy when Safin refused to shake hands with his opponent.

Berdych will now face eighth seed Gilles Simon of France, who claimed a 6-3 6-4 win over Viktor Troicki, while Croatian Ivan Ljubicic upset Spanish seventh seed Fernando Verdasco 6-4 7-6.

Second seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia, fresh from his triumph at the China Open, continued his winning streak in the final second round match with a comfortable 6-3 6-1 win over Italian Fabio Fognini.