Murray won his fourth title of 2015 and lifted his record on the season to 53-8. PHOTO: REUTERS
The Scotsman, who moved to second in the ATP rankings on Monday, dedicated the win to his French mentor, the only woman to coach a major men’s player. With assistant Jonas Bjorkman watching from the player box, Murray turned in a fighting performance over three hours to finally beat Djokovic for the first time in more than two years, the first time since he won the 2013 Wimbledon final over the Serbian.
“To win this one was nice, especially the way the match went,” said Murray. “It would have been easy for me to let that one slip away but I fought well and stayed calm in the important moments of the third set.” Murray and the world number one took an hour per set to settle their score in Quebec as Murray completed a Canadian title hat-trick after trophies in 2009 and 2010.
“You never like losing, but any streak comes to an end,” said Djokovic, who added that he received treatment this week on a right elbow niggle which has been bothering him recently.
Djokovic acknowledged he lost to the “better” player of the day. “Andy deserved the win,” he said. “He stepped in, played some great shots. Most of all the moments when he needed to, he served very, very well. He just came up always with big serves, so I couldn’t do much.”
Murray now owns 11 Masters 1000 titles and 35 overall. He denied Djokovic the chance at a 25th Masters trophy.
“Novak made it extremely difficult out there,” said the two-time Grand Slam champion, who needed five match points to win as the Djokovic defence came to life.
Djokovic said he hopes to carry his form into Cincinnati next week and the US Open, which starts on August 31 in New York. “When I reflect on the week, of course it’s positive,” said the top seed. “I’m playing better as the tournament progressed, and hopefully I can continue in the same style in Cincinnati.”
Toronto winner Bencic up to 12th in world rankings
Swiss teen Belinda Bencic climbed eight places to 12th in the latest WTA rankings released on Monday on the strength of her success in the Rogers Cup final in Toronto.
The 18-year-old gained her second career win when outlasting Simona Halep to win Sunday’s final when the Romanian second seed retired trailing 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (4/7), 3-0.
Bencic, who overcame Serena Williams in the semi-finals, has won 21 of her last 25 matches and defeated four top-10 foes this week, improving to 6-1 this year against such high-ranked rivals.“I don’t think I’m so good at speeches yet,” said Bencic. “But first I want to congratulate Simona on a great week, and my mom, my dad and my team. Even if I lost today it would’ve been an amazing experience.”
Published in The Express Tribune, August 18th, 2015.
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