On-song Murray still full of running

Andy Murray says his body is holding up well to the rigours of his strong recent run after edging a step closer to a third successive title by defeating Stanislas Wawrinka at the Shanghai Masters yesterday.

Murray, victorious in Bangkok and Tokyo in his previous two tournaments, played some stunning tennis in sets one and three but struggled in between as the world No 19 made it a contest.

The Scot, seeded second going into the tournament behind Rafael Nadal – who crashed out to Germany’s Florian Mayer yesterday – eventually prevailed after breaking the Swiss player’s resistance in the decider to secure a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory and a place in the quarter-finals.

The win extends Murray’s record to 22 wins from his last 23 matches, his only defeat in that period coming against Nadal at the US Open, but he says fatigue is not yet a problem. “I feel fine,” Murray said on www.atpworldtour.com. “My legs and stuff were a wee bit tired at the end of the match. But I’ve no stiffness at all in my body.

“I served well for most of the match. It was just my timing was a bit off on some of my shots.”

Murray, playing his opening match in Shanghai after a first-round bye was followed by a walkover against Dmitry Tursunov, held a 5-4 record against Wawrinka going into the contest but was clearly intent on avenging defeat in their previous meeting in the last 32 at last year’s US Open.

He played some scintillating tennis early on, breaking when his opponent double-faulted in the opening game and following that up with another break to surge into a 3-0 lead.

Wawrinka replied by dragging it back to 3-2 but he could not make further inroads in the remainder of the set as the Murray serve held firm.

Inevitably, Murray’s level dipped in the second and Wawrinka found a foothold.

Although Murray saved two break points to hold for 3-3 there was no reprieve in his next service game as Wawrinka broke through for 5-3 and then served it out.

The early part of the decider was a mirror image of the opening set, Murray cruising into a 3-0 lead after which the Swiss underwent on-court treatment for a lower back problem.

Wawrinka’s frustration overflowed in the next game as he smashed his racket in disgust on his way to being broken once more. The 26-year-old from Lausanne did mount a late rally to make the scoreline more respectable before Murray closed it out.

“I got myself pumped up right at the beginning of the third set,” Murray added.

“I think it was important. Stan was playing very well. I was trying to control the ball, especially the middle of the second set, I was really struggling.

“I started dictating a lot of the points with my forehand and trying to get the first strike in because the court is playing very fast. That worked well.”

Murray, bidding for his fifth ATP Tour title of 2011, now faces a last-eight encounter with Australian qualifier Matthew Ebden, who upset eighth-seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (10/8). Murray is now the overwhelming favourite for the title as Nadal was beaten 7-6, 6-3 by Mayer at the Qi Zhong Tennis Centre.

Nadal found himself up against an inspired oppponent who clinched an absorbing opening set tiebreak with an ace. Spaniard Nadal had some chances to break early in the second set but Mayer, ranked 23, held firm and broke Nadal’s serve at 3-3 before repeating the trick two games later to complete one of the best wins of his career.

“Today is a disappointing day. I felt that I did everything right,” a crestfallen Nadal said. “For me the mistake, the really big mistake, was in the second game of the second set. When the opponent is playing well, you have to convert these opportunities. So that’s sport. He did better than me. I am out. He is going to play tomorrow. That’s all.”

Nadal’s compatriot David Ferrer had a more satisfying day as he survived three match points against another Spaniard, Juan Carlos Ferrero, to reach the quarter-finals and seal his place in the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London.