FEDERER TO PLAY MURRAY IN REPEAT OF 2010 SHANGHAI FINAL

Written by: Staff on 12th October 2012

Tennis Japan Open Championships tournament in Tokyo

FEDERER TO PLAY MURRAY IN REPEAT OF 2010 SHANGHAI FINAL

epa03422088 Andy Murray of Britain returns the ball to Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland during their quarter final match of the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships tournament in Tokyo, Japan, 05 October 2012. Murray won 6-2, 3-6 and 6-2. EPA/TOMOYUKI KAYA |

Courtesy of ATP: http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2012/10/41/Shanghai-Friday-Murray-Beats-Stepanek.aspx

Top seed Roger Federer will meet third seed and two-time defending champion Andy Murray in a repeat of the 2010 Shanghai Rolex Masters final on Saturday. Murray leads 9-8 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series.

“I’m looking forward to the match,” said Federer. “It’s always great playing the best players. Those are the kind of matches you want to try to win because that can obviously then move the rankings by a little bit, even though it doesn’t matter so much if you stay within the Top 4. It’s going to be a tough match, [a] good one. From my side, I haven’t decided yet how I’m going to play.”

Federer hit 27 winners and eight aces past No. 10 seed Marin Cilic of Croatia in Friday’s quarter-finals for a 6-3, 6-4 victory in 82 minutes. Cilic, who dropped to 0-4 against Federer, won 54 per cent of first serve points won and committed 29 unforced errors.

It was the 871st victory of Federer’s career, which moves him into No. 4 overall for most match wins in the Open Era. The Swiss superstar improved to a 64-8 match record on the season, which includes six tour-level titles. This week, he is attempting to win a record 22nd ATP World Tour Masters 1000 trophy.