Sunday, October 16, 2016

Andy Murray wins Shanghai Masters with 7-6 6-1 win over Roberto Bautista Agut

Andy Murray beat Roberto Bautista Agut 7-6 6-1 to win the Shanghai Masters and close the gap on Novak Djokovic at the top of the world rankings.

The 96-minute victory extended Murray's winning run to 10 matches after triumphing at the China Open in Beijing a week ago and took his career tally to 41 titles. He is now just 915 points behind Djokovic. 

Andy Murray (left) poses with Roberto Bautista Agut after his Shanghai Masters success
Andy Murray (left) poses with Roberto Bautista Agut after his Shanghai Masters success

The first set went with serve until Murray broke his Spanish opponent to take a 4-3 lead, but after being broken himself, he cruised through the tie-break 7-1.

Three breaks of serve in the second set then eased him into a 5-1 lead and he closed out the match with a series of 100mph second serves and typically-powerful groundstrokes.

The Scotsman was made to work in the opening set, however, as his opponent showed the form that saw him defeat world No 1 Novak Djokovic in their semi-final on Saturday.

Murray's first serve of the match was a thumping ace and he took a grip on the first set at 3-3 when his opponent netted a backhand to lose the first break point of the match.

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But Murray, serving at 5-4, had a self-confessed wobble and lost three set points before making a mess of a drop shot to hand Bautista his first break point, which he duly converted with a strong forehand.

Murray regained his composure to fire down three consecutive aces to take the opening set to a tie-break, which he dominated, winning seven points in a row to take the set with a powerful backhand return.

The world No 2 appeared to up his game at the start of the second set, moving a break up at the start, only to hand it straight back to the Spaniard with a miscued forehand.

But Bautista twice double faulted to go a break down as the pressure told on him before Murray broke him yet again.

Murray held his nerve and put away his first championship point to secure victory in Shanghai, a week after claiming the China Open title in Beijing.

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