Albert Ramos-Vinolas: Beating Roger Federer is the most important victory for me

Spanish qualifier Albert Ramos-Vinolas stunned defending champion Roger Federer in the second round of the 2015 Shanghai Rolex Masters. Ramos-Vinolas beat the Swiss in three sets 7-6 2-6 6-3 in two hours and five minutes on Tuesday.

It was only the second time that Ramos-Vinolas faced Federer on tour. Having played the Swiss tennis maestro only once in his career during the first round of the 2012 Wimbledon where he lost 6-1 6-1 6-1, Ramos-Vinolas took all his might to exalt revenge against Federer in Shanghai, and the Spaniard could not be happier with the results.

Speaking after the match, as reported by ATPWorldTour.com, the 70^th-ranked Spaniard found a “happy,” albeit unexpected, win in Shanghai. He said he was thrilled to have won against Federer.

“I didn’t expect it during the match, after the second set I thought I would lose, but I played really good,” Ramos-Vinolas recalled. “I was very solid with my serve in the third set, I am very happy because it’s the most important victory for me.”

Ramos-Vinolas was 0-15 against Top 10 players. This season, he lost to Stan Wawrinka in the first round of the 2015 US Open 7-5 6-4 7-6. At the 2015 Madrid Open, he also lost in straight sets to fellow compatriot David Ferrer 6-4 6-0. In Monaco, World No. 1 Novak Djokovic dismissed him in straight sets 6-1 6-4. Djokovic also beat Ramos-Vinolas at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells 7-5 3-6. He had only won two sets against players ranked within the top 10 of the world rankings so beating the 17-time grand slam champion was certainly a big accomplishment for the Spaniard.

Federer, who was playing for the first time in three weeks since representing Switzerland in Davis Cup, was gracious in his defeat. Going into the match, Federer said that he knew Ramos-Vinolas would present a tough contest. The 34-year-old Swiss’ second-round exit in Shanghai means that he would lose his chance of finishing as year-end World No. 2 in the Emirates ATP World Rankings.

Meanwhile, Ramos-Vinolas will play 16^th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the third round. The Frechman advanced after scoring straight-sets win over unseeded Victor Estrella Burgos 6-3 6-2. Tsonga holds a 2-0 advantage against Ramos-Vinolas in their head-to-head series.

Completed Men’s Singles Round 2 Results

Marin Cilic def. Borna Coric 6-1 6-2

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Victor Estrella Burgos 6-3 6-2

Albert Ramos-Vinolas def. Roger Federer 7-6(4) 6-2

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