Andy Murray defeated Roger Federer 6-3, 6-2 to win the Shanghai Masters on Sunday — his second finals victory over the Swiss World No.3 in two months.
Murray, ranked fourth, improved to 8-5 in his lifetime record against Federer, who will move back to second in the world rankings on Monday behind Rafael Nadal.
“I had a great week and played some of my best tennis,” said Murray. “I had to play great to have a chance against Roger. But I was able to do that today.”
The Scot's victory was his second title of the season after he beat Federer in the Toronto Masters 1000 final in August, although he lost the Australian Open final to the Swiss earlier this year.
Federer struck a massive 30 unforced errors on Sunday and failed to convert on six break point chances, with only 20 winners in a straight-set loss lasting just under 90 minutes.
“I know how tough it is to win these Masters titles,” said Federer, who would have joined Nadal on a record 18 career Masters 1000 titles if he had triumphed.
“Andy had a great effort. I had some chances but I couldn't break through. He played great and didn't give me much. He made me work hard, I couldn't find many great shots. But I still had a good week and beat some good players,” said the Swiss, who defeated Robin Soderling and Novak Djokovic in his previous two matches.
The defeat dropped Federer, who saved a match point but lost serve four times, to 2-4 in finals in 2010, with the 23-year-old Murray improving his overall season record to 41-14.
Dream debut
Jurgen Melzer and Leander Paes, a first-time pairing in tournament play, won the doubles title beating Polish regulars Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski 7-5, 4-6, 10-5 in the final.
Paes and Melzer had ended Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan's 20-match streak in the semifinals on Saturday. Fyrstenberg and Matkowski had finished runners-up also in Kuala Lumpur and Beijing in the past two weeks.
“I have tremendous respect for Jurgen,” said Paes. “I think that he's one of the most hard working and talented tennis players I've seen over the past 20 years that I've been on the tour. He's beaten two No.1s in the same week — Rafael Nadal (in the singles third round) and then the Bryan brothers last night. For me it's a big honour to play with Jurgen. Not only is he a Grand Slam (doubles) champion at Wimbledon this year, but I consider him one of the great talents in tennis and a good guy.”
"As Leander said, beating two No.1s in the same week is great,” said Melzer. “But finishing it off with a title, it's my first title in a Masters 1000 event. I think we can match up great. It's also nice to have so much experience next to you. You always feel comfortable. He has your back most of the time. So it was a great week. I enjoyed it.”
The third seeds were a break down at 4-5 in the first set but rallied to win the final three games to win the first set. Fyrstenberg and Matkowski, the sixth seeds, won the second set on one break of serve in the ninth game.
In the match tie-break, Melzer and Paes raced to a 7-1 advantage and then rode it home to seal victory in 83 minutes.
It was the 29-year-old Melzer's third tour-level doubles title of the season, following wins at Wimbledon and Zagreb with Philipp Petzschner. He was also runner-up in Bangkok with Jonathan Erlich two weeks ago. For Paes, Shanghai was his second title of the season, and the 44th of his career; he and Lukas Dlouhy won the Miami Masters in April.
Melzer has already secured his place at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals with Petzschner while Paes is in a strong position to qualify with Dlouhy — they are currently ranked No.3.
No comments:
Post a Comment