By Chris Oddo | Sunday, August 16, 2015
Andy Murray ended his eight-match losing streak to Novak Djokovic and won the Rogers Cup on Sunday in Montreal.
Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images
It wasn’t easy. In fact, it was excruciatingly difficult. With Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, it typically is. But in the end Murray got what he wanted—a confidence-inspiring, soul-quenching, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 victory over World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the Rogers Cup final.
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Murray’s third Rogers Cup and 11th Masters 1000 title also removed a sizable monkey from the Scot's back. It snapped a personal eight-match losing streak to Novak Djokovic, one that had dated back to July of 2013.
“Unbelievable atmosphere from start to finish,” Murray told the Montreal crowd after the match. “I’m glad we were able to put on a good performance for you today.”
This battle of wills and skills had more than its share of chills and spills, and Murray weathered the wild terrain of this match with some of his most convincing clutch tennis of the season.
A composed Murray showed his true grit in the third set, as he battled tooth-and-nail to keep a riled-up Djokovic at bay. In the end, Murray saved all nine break points he faced in the decider, and slogged through a pivotal marathon game that featured 26 points, 10 deuces, 6 break points saved and one bad call (Fergus Murphy unecessarily gave Murray a code violation for running into a camera behind the baseline) to hold for 4-1.
Most mere mortals would have hung their heads and tapped out in spirit from there, but a strong-willed Djokovic kept up the fight. He held in the next game and kept coming. With Murray tasting the title, Djokovic courageously saved three championship points at 2-5 to force the Scot to serve it out.
In the final game, Djokovic earned two more break points and saved another championship point before finally missing long with a backhand on Murray’s fifth. The relieved (exhausted?) Scot broke into a huge celebratory smile and pumped his fist in the direction of his box before heading to the net for a heartfelt handshake and hug with the Serb.
“You deserved to win, definitely,” Djokovic told Murray after the match.
Murray’s triumph caps a fantastic week that has seen him book his spot to this year’s ATP World Tour finals as well as reclaim the ATP’s No. 2 ranking for the first time in two years. Today’s victory over Djokovic, his 11th over a reigning World No. 1, is the icing on the cake.
But Murray managed to turn the spotlight away from himself at the end of his awards speech. Instead he mentioned his coach, Amelie Mauresmo. Murray told the crowd that the legendary Frenchwoman, a recently indoctrinated Hall of Famer, had given birth to a baby boy early in the day.
“Amelie, this one’s for you,” he said.
Notes, Numbers, Tweets
Despite the loss, Djokovic has still won 28 of his last 30 deciders, and 7 of his last 9 deciders vs. Murray.
Murray improves to 9-19 against Djokovic with the win, his first since the 2013 Wimbledon final against the Serb.
Murray improves to 53-8 with the win and joins Djokovic (6) and Federer (4) as the only players to have earned more than three ATP titles in 2015.
Djokovic has now reached the finals of all nine events he has played this season. However, he saw his streak of 12 straight victories in Masters 1000 finals snapped today.