Andy Murray started the first game of set one of the final of the Shanghai Rolex Masters by breaking Roger Federer's serve, and ended the last game of the second set by doing the same. In between, he managed to dictate the pace of play against a completely out of sorts Federer for a 6-3, 6-2 straight-sets victory last night.
The crispness of Federer's semi-final victory the day before over Novak Djokovic was nowhere to be seen, and when he found himself on the wrong end of a controversial call halfway through the second set, the gig was basically up. Murray broke Federer twice in the first set and twice in the second, making it back-to-back finals victories over Federer after beating him in the final of the Rogers Cup in Toronto in August.
' I enjoy playing him,' said Murray. 'I don't find it easy at all. It's incredibly difficult every time. But I love the challenge of playing against him. I don't fear playing him, but I know that I could lose the match easily if I don't play my best.
'I don't know if my game matches up well against his or not, but I've played some of my best tennis against Roger and I think that was true today.'
Although Federer was basically on his heels throughout after being broken in game one, any momentum he did manage to regain was negated by an umpire's call in game four of the second set. Down 1-2, Federer was on the verge of having his serve broken again by Murray when he hit a shot to the baseline that Murray missed, to go back to deuce. But a late line call against Federer incensed him and he challenged it on Hawkeye. The challenge showed the shot was in, and the umpire ruled a replay of the point instead of awarding it to Federer. Murray would eventually win the point and instead of being tied at 2-2, Federer was down 1-3.
The decidedly pro-Federer crowd became quite unruly when the normally stoic Swiss maestro continued to argue with the umpire over the replay. While order was eventually restored, the match was basically over.