Andy Murray defeated Roger Federer 6-3, 6-2 to win the Shanghai Masters yesterday, his second finals victory over the Swiss former world No. 1 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 today behind Rafael Nadal.
“I had a great week and played some of my best tennis,” Murray said. “I had to play great to have a chance against Roger, but I was able to do that today.”
Photo: AFP
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 and failed to convert on six break-point chances, with only 20 winners in a straight-sets upset lasting just under 90 minutes.
“I know how tough it is to win these Masters titles,” said Federer, who if he had triumphed would have joined Nadal on a record 18 career Masters 1000 titles. “Andy had a great effort. I had some chances, but I couldn’t break through.”
Photo: AFP
“He played great and didn’t give me much. He made me work hard, I couldn’t find many great shots, he was too good, 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 this year, with 23-year-old Murray improving his overall season record to 41-14.
? JAPAN WOMEN’S OPEN
AP, OSAKA, Japan
Tamarine Tanasugarn beat Kimiko Date Krumm 7-5, 6-7 (4/7), 6-1 in the Japan Women’s Open final yesterday, spoiling the 40-year-old Japanese player’s bid to become the oldest WTA Tour singles winner.
The 33-year-old Thai broke the sixth-seeded Date Krumm twice in the third set to take control in a match that lasted 3 hours, 7 minutes.
“I tried to be more aggressive in the third set and I finally made it,” said Tanasugarn, who claimed her fourth career title. “This is a great feeling, and hopefully I can continue to play like this and get a good start to 2011.”
Date Krumm, who turned 40 last month, was bidding to become the oldest player to win a WTA singles title. Billie Jean King won in Birmingham in 1983 when she was 39 years, 7 months, 23 days.
Date Krumm is already the second-oldest player to win a title after her victory in Seoul last year at 38 years and 11 months.
“I just tried my best and fought as hard as I could,” Date Krumm said. “Nobody wants to lose, so I tried everything. Now I’ll play some ITF events, followed by the Asian Games, so I’ll be continuing to play tennis the rest of the year.”
Date Krumm, who ended a 12-year retirement in April 2008, beat defending champion Samantha Stosur of Australia in the quarter-finals.
In the doubles final, Taiwan’s Chang Kai-chen and Lilia Osterloh of the US defeated Japanese pairing Shuko Aoyama and Rika Fujiwara 6-0, 6-3 to claim the title.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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