Fabulous Ferrer spoils the party

Coupled with Roger Federer's loss to Fernando Gonzalez on Monday, it means that the world's leading three players are in danger of failing to progress beyond the round-robin stage.

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Spent force: Djokovic suffers against Gasquet

Djokovic is certainly out after another jaded performance in which he was beaten 6-4, 6-2 by Richard Gasquet.

Nadal, who lost 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 to fellow Spaniard David Ferrer in a spellbinding encounter, must beat Djokovic in his final match tomorrow to have an opportunity to progress.

Even then, logarithms may be needed to squeeze Nadal into the semi-finals, so complicated are the maths involved.

At least Nadal has the consolation of knowing that he lost not because he played poorly, but because of a display by Ferrer that bordered on the miraculous.

When it comes to speed, stamina and suppleness, the sixth seed is Nadal's match.

Chasing down every ball, he delighted the Shanghai crowd and even persuaded a few to transfer their allegiance from Nadal.

After fighting off five break points in the second set and then stealing it on his first opportunity, Ferrer captured a momentum that could not be reversed.

A gracious Nadal said: "His movement was unbelievable. His play was crazy. Just congratulate him. I have no excuse.

"I played well, he played better. It's disappointing for me. It's the toughest tournament of the year. We play against the best players every match so anything can happen."

While Ferrer now confronts Gasquet in what could be another gruelling battle, Nadal knows that the resistance he is likely to encounter from Djokovic will be minimal.

The Serb's season effectively ended two months ago when he helped his country gain promotion to the Davis Cup World Group for the first time.

In that victory over Australia, the 20-year-old expended his final mental reserves for the year.

Having risen from 16 in the world rankings to No 3 on a remarkable journey that took in two Masters Cup titles, semi-final appearances at Wimbledon and the French Open and his first Grand Slam final — at the U.S. Open — he had nothing left to give by the autumn.

Against Gasquet, as in his first match against Ferrer, he was but a shadow of the player who has moved ahead of his peer Andy Murray in 2007.

Whereas the Scot, who missed four months with a wrist injury, would have been fresh had he qualified for Shanghai, even arriving early in China to prepare could not revive the flagging Djokovic.

He said: "The season was too long for me. Obviously I burned out a little bit.

"Unfortunately, I was caught out by my own success. The cost of it is that I'm really exhausted, mentally and physically.

"I couldn't be close to my level here but it's all right. I don't want to look on the negative side.

"It was unexpected to me that I would win two major tournaments and get so far in the Grand Slams.

"I had an amazing season and these two losses are not going to ruin my whole year."