The match report
So that’s it. Novak Djokovic goes through to contest the final, where he will be aiming for a third Shanghai Masters victory. As for Andy Murray, he’ll inevitably be disappointed at the summary manner of this defeat. But his priority for the remainder of the year remains the Davis Cup final, in which Great Britain face Belgium in Ghent at the end of November, and victory there would doubtless mean more to him than any number of Masters titles. Thanks for reading – until next time, adios.
Looking ahead to the final against Tsonga, Djokovic says: “He’s been playing well all week and has nothing to lose. He played some powerful tennis against Nadal today. He relies heavily on his serve, so I’m hoping I can get a lot of returns in play.”
“I felt great from the first point. I was playing with very high intensity, especially on serve,” says Djokovic. “He played a great match in Montreal a couple of months ago, and deserved to win. I felt I was playing better here than I was there. I wanted to be aggressive and use the serve accurately without really going for the speed.”
That was truly clinical from Djokovic, who outclassed Murray with the same surgical efficiency he showed in dispatching Nadal last weekend. Let’s not forget that Murray made Tomas Berdych, the world No6, look ordinary in the previous round. For much of this match, he in turn was made to look average. It’s a measure of the gulf between Novak and the chasing pack right now, and you wouldn’t bet against him going unbeaten for the remainder of the year.
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Game, set and match Djokovic! He wins 6-1, 6-3
Second set: Murray* 1-6, 3-6 Djokovic (*denotes server)
The opening point offers a glimpse of the match we might have seen, with the two players exchanging a series of brutal, punishing groundstrokes. But it ends in a fashion that demonstrates just why that match failed to materialise: Djokovic works his way forward again and, with Murray stranded on the baseline, feathers away a lovely drop volley. It’s a dagger through the heart for Murray, who at 40-15 sees a huge backhand down the line flash past him. Game, set and match to Nole, and what an amazing performance that was from the world No1.
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Second set: Murray* 1-6, 3-5 Djokovic (*denotes server)
Murray stays in it, just about. He wins the opening point only to be pegged back by a forehand return from Djokovic that sails past him for a clean winner. He then goes 30-15 up only to see the advantage cancelled out by a sweetly-angled forehand that he can only nudge into the net. Then, as the clock hits the hour mark, Djokovic plays a wonderful point, pulling Murray this way and that like a rag doll. That one has even the Serb’s coach, Marián Vajda, out of his seat. But with nothing to lose, Murray hits back in style. He saves match point with a searing backhand winner, follows up with an exquisite topspin backhand lob, and when Djokovic drives a return long he’s home and dry. Well, until the next game at least.
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Second set: Murray 1-6, 2-5 Djokovic* (*denotes server)
Ruthless, flawless, tremendous play from Djokovic, a man who makes the magical look mundane. He holds to 15 and this is now done and dusted barring something extraordinary.
Second set: Murray* 1-6, 2-4 Djokovic (*denotes server)
It probably tells you everything you need to know about this match that Laver has whipped out his camera to take a few snaps from his courtside vantage point. Approval doesn’t come from a higher tennis authority than him. Djokovic marks the moment by sauntering in behind a Murray second serve to slot away a forehand volley for 15-30. Murray hits back with a winning overhead after launching a net attack of his own, and finds a good body serve at 30-30 to bring up game point. Some penetrating play from the back leaves Djokovic lunging unsuccessfully towards a forehand, and that’s earned him some much-needed respite.
Second set: Murray* 1-6, 1-4 Djokovic* (*denotes server)
Murray is doing what he can here, he really is. The Scot is retrieving, hustling, battling, but none of it is enough. A rare miss from Djokovic takes the game to 40-30, but that’s the end of the line for Murray, who nets a backhand and looks thoroughly disconsolate as he trudges back to his chair.
Second set: Murray* 1-6, 1-3 Djokovic (*denotes server)
Rod Laver is looking on, and you have to wonder what the great Australian is making of this match, and of Djokovic in particular. Laver won the grand slam twice, in 1962 and 1969. But did he scale the heights reached by Djokovic in terms of shot-making, athleticism and all-round dominance? You can ponder that one for yourself. All I can tell you is that all those qualities and more were on show as Djokovic romped to another break of serve, one that has surely put paid to the error-prone Murray’s prospects for today.
Second set: Murray 1-6, 1-2 Djokovic* (*denotes server)
A love game from Djokovic ends with an ace. That’s pretty much all you need to know. The momentum briefly seemed to be shifting Murray’s way, but appearances can be deceptive. Especially where Novak Djokovic is concerned.
Second set: Murray* 1-6, 1-1 Djokovic (*denotes server)
Murray is cajoling himself, swearing, getting in his opponent’s face – in short, he’s looking much more his usual pugnacious self. But it’s all to no avail. A terrific point at 30-40 that takes in some wonderful retrieving from Djokovic sees Murray go forward, get pushed back, and then fail to get a drop volley back in play. The exchange is hailed by Mark Petchey, Murray’s former coach, as “one of the points of the year”. I’m not sure I’d go that far, but it was certainly mighty impressive.
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Second set: Murray 1-6, 1-0 Djokovic* (*denotes server)
Much better from Murray. He thwarts another approach to the net from the Serb on the opening point – an unsuccessful attempt to go over his opponent with a flicked topspin lob paves the way for a passing shot that draws a rare volleying error from Djokovic – and once ahead, he works hard to maintain the advantage, showing much greater aggression. A penetrating return at 15-40 earns the Scot his first break, and that’s a real testament to his mental fortitude after the crushing disappointment of the first set. Game on.
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Djokovic wins the opening set 6-1!
First set: Murray* 1-6 Djokovic (*denotes server)
Serving at 15-15, Murray throws in another double fault. Djokovic needs no further encouragement. A brief rally ends with a backhand into the alley, and he then drives long to concede the set. It’s plain to see where the problem lies: Murray made 17 unforced errors in that set to Djokovic’s one. If Murray is to get back into this match, finding greater consistency will be the first step.
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First set: Murray 1-5 Djokovic* (*denotes server)
Djokovic punctuates another love hold with a volley into the open court. Wherever Murray directs his passing shots, the Serb seems to be there. Jonas Bjorkman, Murray’s coach, is looking understandably solemn up in the players’ box.
First set: Murray* 1-4 Djokovic* (*denotes server)
The pressure on Murray’s service is becoming intolerable from the Scot’s perspective, and it tells again when he produces another double-fault at 15-30. He pulls a forehand wide on the first break point, and it’s another breakthrough for Djokovic. He looks utterly dominant, and it’s hard to see what Murray can do to alter the flow of the match right now. He’s faced break points in each of his three service games so far, and the Djokovic sliced backhand is continuing to reap dividends for the world No1.
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First set: Murray 1-3 Djokovic* (*denotes server)
Some more fine net play from Djokovic, who finds the outside edge of the baseline on the opening point and never looks back. He holds to 15, hitting some probing sliced backhands low to the Murray two-hander along the way. We’ll see if that becomes a prominent tactic for the world No1 as the match progresses; it certainly troubled Murray in that game.
First set: Murray* 1-2 Djokovic (*denotes server)
Having weathered two break points in his opening service game, Murray can’t survive any this. That’s eight points in a row for Djokovic, who must be rubbing his hands with glee after a double-fault from the Scot at 0-40. The Serb is already looking supremely comfortable from the back, while Murray’s struggles were epitomised by a backhand driven wildly long at 0-30. The world No2 needs to find a rapid response, or this set could be gone in the proverbial flash.
First set: Murray 1-1 Djokovic* (*denotes server)
A growing feature of Djokovic’s game is his net play. He hasn’t been at his best in the forecourt this week, but he makes two successful forays forward in his opening service game, which he clinches to love. It was every bit as emphatic as the scoreline suggests, too. Two games gone and the gauntlet is down.
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First set: Murray* 1-0 Djokovic (*denotes server)
Murray gets home, but only just. As in the final of Beijing, the opening point is won after an extended rally that goes the way of Djokovic: for Nadal’s missed forehand last week, read Andy’s netted forehand this. Another error brings up 0-30, at which stage Murray hits a seemingly suicidal drop shot, the ball sitting up invitingly for Nole. The Serb is on to it in a flash, trying to nudge it across the face of the net. It’s the wrong call – Murray was heading that way – and the Scot bags a point he really shouldn’t have won. He loses the next one in abysmal fashion, netting a simple backhand, but follows up with an ace and a forehand winner. That seems to infuse him with confidence, and some excellent serving gets him over the line. First test passed.
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It’s Murray to serve and we’re about to get going …
The players have just emerged amid much razzmatazz – and from the stadium announcer to the flashing lights and thundering music, they really give it some welly in Shanghai – so the proceedings should be under way soon. Incidentally, you may be wondering about the head-to-head between Murray and Djokovic. Wonder no more: they’ve played 28 times previously, with the Serb prevailing in 19 of those clashes. Still, let’s not forget that Murray won the 2012 US Open against his opponent today, not to mention the following year’s Wimbledon final. Then again, Nole has won all three of their finals in Melbourne, all on hard courts - the very surface on which they face each other today, albeit indoors.
Speaking of Nadal, there will not be a second final in as many weeks for the Spaniard. The latest Rafa renaissance has just been derailed by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who booked a place in Sunday’s final with a 6-4, 0-6, 7-5 victory. So if the winner of this match wants to claim a third Shanghai Masters win – both men have won the title twice before – they’ll have to find a way past the ebullient Frenchman. First things first, though.
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So what should we expect today?
In a nutshell, a baseline duel of the highest quality, with no quarter given or asked and both men covering every inch of the court. A high first-serve percentage will be vital to Murray’s prospects, because the speed and depth of the Scot’s second serve can drop off alarmingly, paticularly when doubts begin to creep in to his game. No player has a better ability than Djokovic to expose such frailties. Couple that with the Serb’s peerless returning, and the danger to Murray is clear. On the plus side, the world No2 is no slouch off the return either and, if he can stand his ground on the baseline rather than allowing the inevitable baseline barrage from Djokovic to push him ever deeper, he has more than a fighting chance. Then again, Rafael Nadal went into the final of the China Open last Sunday harbouring similar hopes, only to come out on the wrong end of a 6-2, 6-2 hammering despite a highly creditable first-set showing. That victory was the Serb’s sixth in Beijing, and was completed without the loss of a set. He has continued that run in Shanghai, so his game plan should be relatively simple: same old, same old.
Preamble
In 1980, after Bjorn Borg won his fifth successive Wimbledon, one of the more waggish members of the tennis-writing fraternity composed a little ditty in his honour. It ran something like this:
“Thirty-five victims
In five neat rows
Wimbledon for Borg
Is just a game of dominoes.”
It was a neat and novel way of characterising the great Swede’s dominance, but it wasn’t entirely accurate. Remarkable though Borg’s five-year reign at the All England Club was – and let’s not forget that three of his Wimbledon triumphs came hard on the heels of victory on the slow red dirt of Roland Garros, an almost superhuman feat of transition given the slicker, faster grass courts of yore – it was frequently a touch-and-go affair. Never a natural grass-courter, Borg flirted with disaster on more than one occasion, narrowly avoiding defeat in SW19 against Vijay Amritraj, Vitas Gerulaitis, Roscoe Tanner, Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe, to name but a few. Along the way, he forged a reputation as a master escapologist that merely added to the aura of mystique and near invincibility surrounding a man who came to be known as “Ice Borg”. The fact remains, though, that he always seemed fallible, especially in the early rounds. Victory was never a given.
The pre-eminence of Novak Djokovic, who today faces Andy Murray for a place in the final of the Shanghai Masters, is of a very different hue. In 2015, the top-ranked Serb has all but redefined the meaning of dominance. The bare statistics – three grand slam titles, 12 straight finals since losing to Ivo Karlovic in Doha at the start of the year, 71 wins in 76 matches – are impressive enough. But it is perhaps the manner in which Djokovic has established his authority over the rest of the field that most astonishes. In 2011, when he likewise won three majors and proved virtually unbeatable, losing just six out of 76 matches, the Serb played an exhilarating, swashbuckling brand of tennis, sweeping winners from all corners of the court with what one might almost characterise as flawless abandon. This year is different. Djokovic seems to be in a kind of permanent comfort zone; no less impressive than his 2011 self, and clearly every bit as consistent, he is overcoming all-comers through relentless pressure as much as eye-catching strokeplay. Breathtaking spectacle has given way to immovable substance, almost as though he no longer has to resort to extravagant shot-making because, frankly, the level of play he regards as ordinary and everyday has become so extraordinary – in terms of consistency, penetration and relentless pressure – that his opponents can no longer find even start to find an answer.
So make no mistake, Murray faces arguably the toughest assignment in world sport today. Can he do it? Well, yes he can. The Scot has been in good form this week – a point underlined by his emphatic quarter-final win over Tomas Berdych on Friday – and got the better of Djokovic when they last faced each other, in Montreal before the US Open. Murray adopted a policy of all-out aggression that day, starting on the front foot and – a few understandable wobbles aside – sticking to his guns at the key moments. The win ended a two-year, eight-match losing streak against Djokovic, so Murray can take to the court today secure in the knowledge that he has the tools to beat the world No1. It will be far from easy, though, as the Scot acknowledged after his win against Berdych. “I’m aware it’s going to be an extremely difficult match,” said Murray. “He’s played very, very well for the whole year … it’s going to be a tough match for sure.”
Play begins at 1pm BST
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