SHANGHAI, Nov 12: World number one Roger Federer suffered a shock 3-6, 7-6, 7-5 defeat by Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez in his opening match at the Tennis Masters Cup on Monday.

The Swiss, chasing his fourth title at the season-ending tournament, had never previously been beaten in round-robin play at the Masters Cup.

Andy Roddick survived a scare against Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko in the day’s earlier Red Group match in Shanghai, the American coming through 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.

Federer appeared to be in total control after taking the opening set, but he lost his cool after Gonzalez ripped through the second-set tiebreak 7-1.

The 12-time Grand Slam champion vented his fury at the umpire and his mood darkened further in the third set, Gonzalez saving five break points with some more inspired shot-making.

Davydenko’s gutsy fight-back from a set and a break down sparked a tantrum from Roddick, who smashed his racket in disgust at his second-set collapse.

But Roddick recovered superbly, storming through the third set to severely dent his opponent’s chances at the $4.45 million eight-man event.

Both players, set to clash in the Davis Cup final starting later this month, have been routinely tormented by Federer in the past, making victory in their group opener imperative.

On Sunday Spain’s Rafael Nadal charged back from a set down to beat Frenchman Richard Gasquet 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the opening match of the Tennis Masters Cup.

The French Open champion recovered from a sluggish start, winning his round-robin opener in a shade over two hours at the tournament.

David Ferrer made it a perfect day for Spain with an impressive 6-4, 6-4 victory over Serbia’s Novak Djokovic in the second Gold Group match.

Gasquet, who had lost all three of his previous matches against Nadal, took the first set after securing a break at 4-3 with a forehand rocket down the line.

Nadal came to life in the second, the world number two breaking Gasquet to love for a 4-2 lead and levelling the match with a fierce serve to his opponent’s body.

Gasquet battled gamely to stem the tide but a pumped-up Nadal broke through at the same point in the decider and clinched victory with a textbook backhand volley.

Ferrer produced the first surprise of the eight-man tournament, avenging his defeat by Djokovic in the US Open semi-finals in September with a clinical display.

World number three Djokovic was strangely out of sorts, committing 41 unforced errors, a brief flurry of winners in the final game proving too little, too late.

Monday’s results (x denotes seeding):

Red Group: Fernando Gonzalez (CHL x7) bt Roger Federer (SWI x1) 3-6, 7-6(1), 7-5; Andy Roddick (US x5) bt Nikolay Davydenko (RUS x4) 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.

Sunday’s results:

Gold Group: David Ferrer (ESP x6) bt Novak Djokovic (SRB x3) 6-4, 6-4; Rafael Nadal (ESP x2) bt Richard Gasquet (FRA x8) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.—Agencies