ANDY MURRAY WINS TITLE IN SHENZHEN , OLDER BROTHER JAMIE MURRAY IS RUNNER UP IN DUBS WITH JOHN PEERS

Written by: Staff on 29th September 2014

ANDY MURRAY WINS TITLE IN SHENZHEN , OLDER BROTHER JAMIE MURRAY IS RUNNER UP IN DUBS WITH JOHN PEERS |

Andy Murray won his first singles title since winning Wimbledon 15 months ago.

The win did little to alter his position of being an unlikely outsider to the world’s top ten but winning the Shenzhen Open after saving five match points against Spanish veteran Tommy Robredo did wonders for the Scot’s flagging morale.

Murray has struggled with confidence and concentration issues since undergoing back surgery exactly a year ago and then finding out Ivan Lendl no longer wanted to coach him six months later.

The relief of finally getting his hands on some silverware ( funny it was a beautiful glass sculpture trophy , not silverware …) after much angst, more than a little pain and sparse on court satisfaction reduced Murray to tears and he sat courtside weeping into his towel after beating 32 year-old Robredo 5-7 7-6, 6-1.

Clearly still emotional, he said: “”I want to thank my team and I want to thank my friends and family back home and especially my girlfriend [Kim Sears]. She’s supported me a lot through this week. It’s been a very tough week for me.”

New coach Amelie Mauresmo was not in attendance but Murray said: “It’s been ages since I won a tournament and the way I won that match doesn’t happen too often.

“I was on the brink losing it several times but managed to fight my way through it, win the title. Now I’m hoping I can win at least another one before the end of the year.”

Victory did move Murray up to tenth place in the race to qualify for the season ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals at London’s 02 Arena. He is now 35 points behind Canada’s Milos Raonic and 105 points adrift of the Czech Republic’s Tomas Berdych who currently occupies the eighth qualifying position.

However Murray faces an incredibly tough draw at this week’s China Open in Beijing. He initially faces the powerful 36th ranked Pole, Jerzy Janowicz and could then face a potential run of meeting US Open champion Marin Cilic in the quarterfinals, Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic in the semis and world no.1 Rafael Nadal, back after a three months absence from competition, in the final.

The manner of his win over Robredo, and the proof of his superior fitness, bolstered his confidence for the coming few weeks where he will go on to contest the Shanghai Rolex Masters, a title he won twice back to back in 2010 and 2011 before reaching the final again in 2012.

Speaking of his win over Robredo in 85 degrees Fahrenheit and humidity nudging towards 80%, Murray admitted an element of good fortune was involved but said: “This was a very tough match, the conditions here are so hard to play in. I got lucky, basically, at the end of the second set. I fought hard, tried my best and thankfully turned it around.

“Tommy probably deserved to win the match. He had plenty of chances to do so in the second set, but sometimes that happens in sport. I just kept on battling till the end.”

At the same time, Murray’s elder brother Jamie was losing the doubles final of the Kuala Lumpur Open alongside regular partner John Peers against Leander Paes and Marcin Matkowski.

High profile mother Judy Murray was back home in Britain, contesting the popular television show Strictly Come Dancing. But she used Scottish dialect to praise her younger son when she Tweeted: “True grit. Stoatir [fantastic]. X”

Topics: Amelie Mauresmo, Andy Murray, Jamie Murray, John Peers, Kuala Lumpur, Leander Paes, Marcin Matkowski, Shenzhen Open, Tennis News, Tommy Robredo

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10sBalls_com says:

September 29, 2014 at 1:27 pm

@andy_murray WINS TITLE IN #SHENZHEN, OLDER BROTHER @jamie_murray IS #RUNNERUP IN #DUBS WITH @johnwpeers- http://t.co/HVBoyRZQip #tennis