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Murray wins 1st title in 15 months
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SECOND-SEEDED Andy Murray of Britain rallied from a set down to defeat fourth seed Tommy Robredo of Spain, 5-7, 7-6 (9), 6-1 yesterday to win the Shenzhen Open in south China’s Guangdong Province.
Murray saved five match points as he ended a 15-month title drought while improving his chances of qualifying for the ATP Finals in London in November.
“I got lucky, basically, at the end of the second set,” Murray said. “I fought hard, tried my best and thankfully managed to turn it round.”
The 27-year-old Scot accepted a wildcard into Shenzhen in a bid to improve his ranking from 11th into the top eight, so as to qualify for London. Murray now moves up to 10th in the rankings, just 105 points behind the eighth-placed Czech Tomas Berdych.
Murray trailed 2-6 in the second set tiebreaker against Robredo, but the Spaniard squandered five match points.
It was Murray’s first title since his triumph at Wimbledon in July 2013 and his 29th tour-level victory.
In Beijing, world No. 4 Maria Sharapova powered through her opening match at the US$5.4 million China Open yesterday, but faces a tricky opponent in the second round.
The Russian beat Estonia's Kaia Kanepi 6-4, 6-1 in her first-round match of the tournament, and will meet world No. 34 Elina Svitolina next.
The Ukrainian beat world No. 8 Angelique Kerber last week at the Wuhan Open to make it to the semifinals of the premier-ranking event, and will have her confidence sky-high.
Sharapova, the reigning French Open champion, said despite her six double-faults she thought she served well against the 46th-ranked Kanepi, a five-time grand slam quarterfinalist.
“I thought I played a difficult opponent, someone that I’ve had trouble against in the past. I’m usually somebody that goes for my serve. If I make more errors, I feel more confident knowing that I’m going for it rather than just making my opponent hit a ball.”
Elsewhere, Sara Errani became the first seed to tumble as Kurumi Nara of Japan sealed a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory.
The 11th seed was hoping for a good run in Beijing to improve her slim chance of making next month's WTA Finals in Singapore, which features the top eight women's players.
Venus Williams eased through against British rising star Heather Watson 6-3, 6-1.
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