Spain’s David Ferrer celebrates after defeating Novak Djokovic of Serbia 6-4, 6-4 during their Gold Group roundrobin match at the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai yesterday.—Xinhua

Shanghai Daily news

A strangely subdued Rafael Nadal rallied from a set down to see off Richard Gasquet 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the opening match of the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai yesterday.

The French Open champion recovered from a sluggish start, winning his round-robin opener in just over two hours at the 15,000-seat Qizhong Stadium in suburban Minhang District.

David Ferrer made it a perfect day for Spain with an impressive 6-4, 6-4 win over world No. 3 Novak Djokovic of Serbia in the second Gold Group match.

Gasquet, who had lost all three of his previous clashes with the world No. 2, took the first set after securing a break at 4-3 with a forehand down-the-line shot.

Nadal came alive in the second, breaking Gasquet to love for a 4-2 lead before leveling the match. Gasquet battled on but Nadal broke through at the same point in the decider and clinched victory with a textbook backhand volley.

"I finished much better than I started," Nadal said later. "I finished the match playing more aggressive, going to the net more, serve-and-volley sometimes."

The world's best claycourt player pushed Federer to the limit in this year's Wimbledon final but believes he is still some way from catching the Swiss at the top of the rankings.

"This year I was closer to him," said the 21-year-old. "But 'close' is 995 points."

Ferrer produced the first surprise of the eight-man tournament, avenging his defeat by Djokovic in the US Open semifinals in September.

Djokovic committed 41 unforced errors.

"I think maybe he was a bit nervous," said Ferrer. "I'm playing with confidence. Mentally I am very confident and I'm in great shape physically."

Federer, drawn in the Red Group, begins his bid for a fourth Masters Cup title in five years today.

In doubles, Martin Damm and Leander Paes shrugged off their indifferent form leading into the Masters Cup with a 6-4, 6-1 win over defending champions Jonas Bjorkman and Max Mirnyi last night.

The Czech-Indian duo had endured opening-round losses in their two recent outings - ATP Masters Series events in Paris and Madrid.

But the 2006 US Open champions looked sharp from the start, earning a break point on Bjorkman's serve in the third game and then breaking the veteran Swede's next service game. The duo then took Mirnyi's serve in the first and fifth games of the second set, and broke Bjorkman in the final game of the match.