Andy Murray's hopes of qualifying for the ATP World Tour Finals in London next month have been hampered following a 6-2 1-6 2-6 defeat to David Ferrer in the third round of the Shanghai Masters.
The Scotsman, who would have gone within five ranking points of the eighth qualifying place with a win, made easy work of the first set by breaking Ferrer's serve instantly.
The Spaniard created just one break point and lost his serve again as Murray pushed on to take a one-set lead in China.
Despite a strong start, Murray was put on the back foot early in the second set and could only get one game on the board after losing serve twice.
The momentum continued to swing in Ferrer's favour as he found the first break point of the final set, with Murray needing to launch a comeback in order to progress in the tournament.
However, Ferrer was able to snatch Murray's serve again before seeing out the set to win the contest.
