By Richard Pagliaro | Sunday, October 16, 2016
Andy Murray beat Roberto Bautista Agust, 7-6 (1), 6-1, to win his 13th Masters crown in Shanghai and narrow the gap on world No. 1 Novak Djokovic.
Photo credit: Shanghai Rolex Masters
Movement is an Andy Murray asset.
Murray continued to show signs of upward mobility in Shanghai today.
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The second-ranked Scot defeated Roberto Bautista Agut, 7-6 (1), 6-1, to capture his 13th career Masters 1000 crown at the Shanghai Rolex Masters.
It was Murray's sixth title of the season and his second straight championship. Last week, Murray swept Grigor Dimitrov to win the Beijing title.
Murray extended his winning streak to 10 matches and narrowed the gap on Novak Djokovic for the world No. 1 ranking.
Winning his 41st career title puts Murray just 915 points behind Djokovic, who was upset by Bautista Agut in Saturday's semifinals, in the Race to London.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist downplayed his shot of surpassing Djokovic for year-end world No. 1.
"My goal is not to try and reach No. 1 this year. I’d have to win pretty much every match between now and the end of the year," Murray said. "And Novak would not have to win hardly any. So it’s not in my hands.
"I want to try and get there, but I don’t think doing that by the end of this year is that realistic. So I just want to try and finish this year as strong as I can. Maybe give myself a chance at doing it the early part of next year."
The 29-year-old Murray cashed in on his lone break point of the opener then served for a one-set lead at 5-4, 40-15.
First-time Masters finalist Bautista Agut answered saving all three set points he faced to break back for 5-all.
A cluster of Bautista Agut errors gave Murray a 4-1 advantage in the tie break. The Murray two-handed backhand, a key stroke throughout the match, served him well in the breaker.
Slashing a backhand return winner, Murray closed the first set.
Ravaging the 15th-seeded Spaniard's serve in the second set, Murray won 12 of 14 points played on Bautista Agut's serve and converted all three break points powering to his sixth title of the season.
"Andy is doing everything to get Novak," said Bautista Agut, who dropped to 0-3 vs. Murray. "If he continues playing like this and working like that... He's really focused on getting No. 1."
It was Murray's third career Shanghai championship, equaling Djokovic's mark. Murray concluded the Asian swing winning 20 of the 20 sets he contested.
"I think I have responded pretty well every time I have been in tough situations or gone behind in sets," Murray said. "I have got myself back on level terms fairly quickly.
"When I have been behind, I think I have done a pretty good job of getting myself on level terms fairly quickly and not having too many serve lulls in the matches that have lasted that long."