Murray to face Federer in Shanghai final

Roger Federer secures chance of a revenge win over Murray after beating Novak Djokovic 7-5, 6-4 in the semi-final.

SHANGHAI: Roger Federer secured the chance of a revenge win over Andy Murray in the Shanghai Masters final after beating Novak Djokovic 7-5, 6-4 in the semi-final.

The Swiss third-seed came through an hour-long first set to regain form and defeat the Serb, who had triumphed over Federer a month ago in the US Open semi-finals. Scotland’s Murray, who has revitalised his game this week after poor showings in New York and Beijing, reached his second Masters 1000 final in succession as he defeated Argentina’s Juan Monaco 6-4, 6-1.

Murray beat Federer in the Toronto final two months ago and holds a 7-5 lead over Federer in their career series. But he could be next in the queue for revenge by the Swiss, who holds a record 16 grand slam titles and has won two trophies in Shanghai.

Murray, seeking only his second title of the season came through a tight first set against the unseeded Monaco. But the fourth-seed stepped up his play in the second and quickly wrapped up victory after 85 minutes on court.

“In each match I’ve felt better,” said Murray. “It’s been a couple of tough weeks. This is probably a better result than I expected at the start of the week. I think I moved really well today, which is very important to my game. I have a feeling on the court if I’m running around, chasing a lot of balls down, I feel good.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 17^th, 2010.