RAFAEL NADAL crashed out at the Shanghai Masters on Wednesday as Australia’s Nick Kyrgios was booed off court in a tanking row and Andy Murray motored into round three.

    Nadal said he may call an early halt to his season and hit the practice courts instead as he bids to halt a slide in his form and results in time for next season.

    The 30-year-old, a 14-time Grand Slam champion, bore a worried look after he was soundly beaten 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) by Viktor Troicki in his first match at the Shanghai Masters.

    It extended a difficult run for the Spanish left-hander who hasn’t reached a final since he won his second title of the year in Barcelona in April.

    “I don’t know what’s going to happen in the next couple of weeks. It’s something that I need to think about,” said the world number five Wednesday.

    “I cannot say now what I’m going to do during the next month. I’m not sure about my calendar. I’m not sure about the things that I need to do to try to be 100 percent ready for next year.”

    The last events of the season include the Swiss Indoors, the Paris Masters and the ATP World Tour Finals in London. But Nadal said more tournaments may not be what he needs.

    “Sometimes keeping (on) competing is not the solution. Sometimes the solution is to practice and stop and have a process of training. And maybe that’s an opportunity to do it,” he said.

    “I’m not sure about that. Maybe I’m going to play in Basel in two weeks. So it’s not the day and not the moment to analyze all these kind of things.”

    Nadal’s first ever defeat to Troicki, ranked 31st, came less than a week after his dispiriting straight-sets loss to Grigor Dimitrov in the China Open quarterfinals.

    Signs are growing of a steady decline for the one-time clay court king, who won his first Slam title aged 17 but hasn’t added to his tally of majors since the 2014 French Open.

    Nadal said he badly needed to work on his once-formidable forehand, and the speed of movement which made him a brick wall for so many opponents.

    Meanwhile, Kyrgios argued with a fan and the chair umpire as he gave up on a string of points during his 6-3, 6-1 defeat to German qualifier Mischa Zverev, the world number 110.

    Afterwards Kyrgios, known for his volatile behavior, admitted “taking the easy way out” and “tapping out a little bit,” saying he was tired after last week’s Japan Open win.

    Murray, who moved fluently past Steve Johnson 6-3, 6-2, was quick to defend the troubled Kyrgios.

    “You need to go out there and give your best effort of what you have on that day. If he didn’t do that, then he will be disappointed with himself tonight,” said the world number two.

    (SD-Agencies)