Andy Murray and Roberto Bautista Agut will be squaring off for the third time in their careers when they battle for the title at the Shanghai Rolex Masters on Sunday afternoon. Murray is leading the head-to-head series 2-0, having prevailed 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 two years ago at Wimbledon and 6-4, 6-4 last season on the clay courts of Rome.
The 2016 campaign has undoubtedly been one of Murray’s best, with Wimbledon and the Rio Olympics among his five titles. He also finished runner-up at both the Australian Open and French Open. Not only is Murray 64-9 for the season, but he is also an amazing 47-4 in his last 51 matches dating back to the start of the Rome Masters in May. The second-seeded Scot has improved to 21-3 lifetime in Shanghai with straight-set victories this week over Steve Johnson, Lucas Pouille, David Goffin, and Gilles Simon.
Bautista Agut booked an improbable spot in a Masters 1000 final–his first at a tournament of this magnitude–with defeats of Bernard Tomic (via second-set retirement), Taylor Fritz, Viktor Troicki, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and Novak Djokovic. Not even Djokovic managed to make any set more competitive than 6-4. The 19th-ranked Spaniard is an outstanding 48-19 for the year with two titles, but both of those came in the first five weeks of 2016.
Although it is hard to accomplish anything greater than upsetting the No. 1 player in the world, it has to be said that a win over Murray in the final of a Masters 1000 event would be even more impressive for Bautista Agut. Since the start of the grass-court swing, Murray has been the undisputed best player on tour–by a wide margin. Bautista Agut won’t get the same kind of help that he got from Djokovic on Saturday, and Murray’s march toward the top of the rankings should continue.
Pick: Murray in 2
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WWW?
RBA. You have to give him respect so Murray in 3
Robert will win.
really?
Broooo?? U could be on a roll Hawkes!!
I think RBA cam take one set so Murray in three
RBA is flying high on confidence no doubt after beating Novak.
Had to wake up in the middle of the night for this one.
This is great set of tennis. Highly competitive. Agut REALLY believes in himself. Whether he loses this tie break or not, RBA isn’t going away.
Andy in 3. Come on!
Andy owning the first set TB. Changed my mind. Andy in 2. 😀
But I hope RBA can keep the level as high in the second set. Vamos
Oh yeah. Andy serving first second set and holds at love…oops not quite, almost. FH winner from RBA. Andy holds missing one point in the opening game. Large and in charge from Muzz.
How will RBA answer that? Weak serving and over-hitting finds him in a hole about to be broken, serving.
Andy 2-0.
Andy with his version of Angie Kerber squat shot 😀 (not quite as good)
RBA not as hot as yesterday. But he did break Andy to get a game on the board. And that just made Andy all the more tetchy…and solid as a rock.
Andy 4-1.
Andy pointing to his head. lol…
He’s only going to allow RBA one game. Breaks again
5-1 and Serving for Shanghai title.
RBA no match for this Andy. Looking at the soon to be new #1. He’s showing us why.
Congratulations Andy! dominant. 6-1
Chinese man presenting the trophy is fluent in Spanish and speaks near peRfect English when pronouncing names – Roberto… and Moorrayy.
Some great looking trophies in China. Love the one Aga won last week in Beijing too and this one. Andy on a roll is a beautiful thing. 13th Masters 1000.
Who will win Paris? Someone not named Andy or Novak?
Robert will win.
Commiserations Hawks your man;s run came to an end.
Murray is not even dropping sets…. he really is peaking
It was about the time for Andy to peak…thought it would never happen ?
Am so glad Andy won this and hope he continues to play very well. Maybe we are entering a Murray era? That said, I am going out on a limb and predicting Raonic will win Paris. He has played well there in the past, despite the super slow court, and should get some much-needed match play in Basel.
Congrats to Andy, another step closer to world no. 1 ranking. He’s not even dropping a set these two tournaments, truly impressive! Can he win or reach final at Vienna, Paris and WTF? If yes I think he most likely will be no.1
Luckystar (AT 12:26 PM),
To become YE#1, A. Murray has to earn 1190 (+1) points more than Djoko between now and the end of the year.
Luckystar (AT 12:26 PM),
The poster AT 4:00 PM is factually incorrect as usual yet again.
http://www.atpworldtour.com/
#915
#HowManyTimes!!!
The poster AT 5:15 PM is trolling as usual yet again.
The poster AT 5:26 is hypocritical as usual yet again.
Andy is 915 points below Nole.
Straight-face gets it.
#RaceToLondon
Andy takes it in straights. Great tourney from RBA.
Congratulations to Andy on this win! It sounds like it was a dominant performance. Nice to see Andy peaking and playing so well now.
It will be interesting to see if Andy can get to #1 now.
YAY Quite a roll Andy Murray is on, would be amazing to see him get the no1 ranking now, and if not now could do it AO early next year ….
It is actually possible for Muzza to be no. 1 prior to start of play at the O2!!!! Evidently this is because last year’s WTF points will be deducted before the finals start (as is done each year)….and Nole had a much higher haul than Andy.
Ironically, Andy could go into WTF as No.1 and leave it as No. 2 – assuming Nole clears the deck in the majority of round-robins!
Murray can become No. 1 in the world as soon as Nov. 7 if Nole fails to make the Paris final AND if Murray wins BOTH Vienna and Paris.
#FactuallyCorrectAsUsual
Hawkeye,
Thanks for posting that info. I did not realize that he could do it so soon!
?
Yes NNY. You are quite welcome.
It is because the WTF points from last year drop on Nov. 7 (the same day that points will be added for Paris this year.
🙂 🙂
Hawkeye,
Again, thanks for clarifying!
?
quite interesting!
Yes vr. I’d like to see him do it and finish the year No. 1 even though I’d kind of like to see Nole tie and maybe even eventually pass Fed at YE No. 1 titles. Sampras’ run of six years in a row is near unbeatable IMO. If Nole doesn’t finish No. 1 this year, I doubt that he will catch Fed and Pete.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ATP_number_1_ranked_singles_tennis_players#Year-end_No._1
Straight-face (AT 1:27 PM),
If A.Murray wins the tournaments in Vienna & Paris and Djoko fails to reach the Paris final, A.Murray will become world No.1 prior to start of play in London. But A.Murray can drop back to No. 2 before the end of the year…
I already say this before you AT 1:38 PM.
https://tenngrand.com/2016/10/16/shanghai-final-preview-prediction-murray-vs-bautista-agut/#comment-200131
Hawkeye
Mine was 1.27pm. Yours wasn’t on when I posted.
Straight-face, I wasn’t referring to your post. Sorry for any confusion.
Straight-face (AT 3:02 PM),
You are right! ? And I commented on your post. 🙂
…after I already did but you seemed to feel the need to repeat it (even though you regularly call others out for doing the same for some bizarre reason). 🙂
The poster AT 3:58 PM seems to use the same script his collaborator is using – they are writing the same phrases for some bizarre reason.
😆
The poster AT 5:08 PM is oblivious to me intentionally using the same script as her own – she has no sense of parody (or opinions on tennis) for some bizarre reason.
🙂
#ICYMI
The poster AT 5:13 PM acknowledges that his ‘opinions on tennis’ is parody! NID. 😆
No problem.