Andy Murray loses Shanghai Masters final to Novak Djokovic
14th October 2012Andy Murray’s third successive final at the Qizhong Arena failed to deliver him a third successive Shanghai Masters title, as he was beaten 5-7, 7-6, 6-3 by his old rival Novak Djokovic.
But the match did produce one of the best contests of the year, and it hinged on the most influential 'tweener' ever seen in tennis.
The definition of a 'tweener' is a shot played between the legs when you have your back to the net. There have been more spectacular examples than the one Djokovic produced on Sunday, when Murray served for the match at 5-4 in the second set. But none can have come at such a critical moment.
The score in the game was already 30-0, so if Djokovic had hit the net, or the stands, or his own intimate areas — as is always a risk with this shot — then Murray would have had three championship points on his own serve, and the result would surely have been different.
But Djokovic, who was running back to deal with an accurate Murray lob, got good purchase and length on the ball. Then, as a surprised Murray bunted it back into the court, he dashed forward again and produced an equally outrageous flourish: a perfect sliced drop shot that flew barely an inch over the net cord. And all this, remember, when he was just two points from defeat.
We have seen before how Djokovic finds strength when he is taken to the brink. What is remarkable, though, is how loose he becomes at these moments. There was a playfulness about his tennis on that remarkable point, which recalled the breathtaking service return that he produced on match point down against Roger Federer in last year’s US Open.