Novak Djokovic defeats Andy Murray in the Shanghai Masters
Djokovic's victory prevented Murray from completing a hat-trick of winning the Shanghai Masters titles, as the Briton has previously won the tournament in 2010 as well as 2011. The match itself was also the first meeting between the two players after the US Open final, in which Murray was the one who won.
Murray, 25, beat world number one Roger Federer in the semi-final on Saturday, while Djokovic was trying everything to reclaim the top rank, after holding it for a consecutive of 53 weeks. The thrilling match was held at the Qi Zhong Stadium in front of a packed crowd and it lasted for a total of three hours and twenty minutes.
Murray took the lead in the first set by 7-5, in which Djokovic smashed his racket in anger after the Briton recovered from 0-40 to edged 6-5 after seven breaks.
The second set was filled with actions, with Murray leading 4-3. However, Djokovic managed to level the set with a volley and later saved a match point to pull level at 5-5. The Serbian continued to save match points for four more times and won it at 13-11.
Djokovic finally sealed the victory with two breaks in the decider.
In the interview after the match was over, Murray said that he was "disappointed to lose", but paid tribute to Djokovic for his excellent performance in the exciting final. At the same time, Murray is looking forward to recover from the loss and get prepared for the remaining scheduled events at Basle as well as Paris.
The Serb is pretty certain to reclaim the world number one in the end of this year and he definitely deserves it. With so few ranking points to defend, it is very likely that he will overtake Federer.
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