Andy Murray won a title for the fifth time in his last seven tournaments when he defeated Roberto Bautista Agut 7-6(1), 6-1 in the final of the Shanghai Rolex Masters on Sunday. Murray converted all four of his break-point chances to triumph in one hour and 36 minutes.
The second-ranked Scot seemingly took control by breaking serve for a 4-3 advantage in the opening frame of play, after which he soon found himself serving at 5-4, 40-15. Bautista Agut, however, saved three set points and eventually broke back for 5-5. But it was all for naught for the 15th-seeded Spaniard, because he won just a single point in the ensuing tiebreaker.
From there it was all over, as Murray seized additional service breaks for 2-0, 3-1, and 5-1 advantages in the second set. A love hold quickly wrapped up the proceedings in favor of the No. 2 seed.
“I did feel like I played better this week than last week,” noted Murray, who also captured a title last week in Beijing. “In all of the matches I was hitting the ball pretty clean.”
As a result of his summer and fall hot streak, which now features titles at Queen’s Club, Wimbledon, the Rio Olympics (albeit with no ranking points), Beijing, and Shanghai, Murray is now within 915 points of top-ranked Novak Djokovic in the 2016 race. A loss on Sunday would have left him more than 1,300 points behind Djokovic.
“I believe I can get there,” Murray assured. “I definitely believe I can get there. These last few months have proved that to me. I’ll give it my best shot to do it, because I may never get another chance.”
“Andy is doing everything to get Novak,” Bautista Agut added. “If he continues playing like this and working like that… He’s really focused on getting No. 1.”
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