Novak Djokovic underlined the gulf in class between himself and the chasing pack with a virtually flawless display against the second-ranked Andy Murray, advancing to the final of the Shanghai Masters with a 6-1, 6-3 win.
With Djokovic in a rich vein of form, the wonder was that Murray, under the cosh from the first point to the last, salvaged even four games. Djokovic, who claimed a sixth China Open title last weekend, has notched up nine successive straight-sets wins over the past fortnight, and his confidence shone through. Rarely has the gap between the first- and second-ranked players been so brutally exposed.
A solid performance on serve was always likely to prove vital for Murray but he struggled throughout on both deliveries, finding the court with just 46% of his first serves in the opening set and coughing up four double faults. It was never going to be enough and, having staved off break points in his opening service game, he would not hold again until the sixth game of the second set. By then, the contest was in effect over.
“I’m obviously disappointed with the way I played,” said Murray. “I served poorly, in the first set especially. You can’t afford to do that against Novak with the way he’s playing just now, the amount of confidence he has.”
But while Murray looked a shadow of the player who brushed aside the sixth-ranked Tomas Berdych in the previous round, it should also be acknowledged that he was facing one of the sternest tests in sport. Djokovic was sublime, just as he has been throughout a year that has brought three grand slam titles, 13 straight finals and 72 wins from 77 matches. As the Serb showed with the sliced backhands and frequent forays to the net with which he tormented Murray, his game has evolved, eclipsing even the dauntingly high benchmark he set in 2011, when he also won three of the four majors.
Djokovic, who will play Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final after the Frenchman beat Rafael Nadal 6-4, 0-6, 7-5, said: “It was my best match of the tournament. I’m focusing on trying to use the good sensation that I have on the court, the confidence I have from winning so many matches this season, in every match I play.”
