Agencies
Shanghai, October 9
Spaniard David Ferrer fought back from a set down to dump Andy Murray out of the Shanghai Masters 2-6 6-1 6-2 on Thursday.
The Scot made an excellent start against the fifth seed, dropping just two games in the opening set, but Ferrer turned the match on its head to ease into the quarter-finals and a possible clash with Novak Djokovic.
"I needed to play my best tennis today," said Ferrer. "Of course it's my goal, and the goal of Andy. I think this match was very important for both players. Today was a good victory."Ferrer is now just 35 Emirates ATP Rankings points behind eighth-placed Milos Raonic — who sits in the final automatic qualification spot — in the countdown to the prestigious season finale, to be held at The O2 in London from 9-16 November. Ferrer now has 3715 points to Raonic's 3,750 points.
"He barely missed a ball for about a set and a half," said Murray. "I couldn't find a way around him. He played just great tennis, especially the last set and a half.
"[At] the beginning of the second set I still had a couple of opportunities there right at the beginning. But after that, I've got to give it to him, he played fantastically well and deserved to win."
It had all looked to be going according to plan for Murray when he cruised through the first set, his cause helped by five aces as he dropped just four points on his own serve.
However Ferrer's more aggressive approach turned the tables on his opponent; he claimed an early break in the second set, one he built on quickly on his way to levelling matters.
The decider proved to be just as one-sided, a pair of breaks putting the fifth seed on the brink. He duly served out for the victory, with Murray dumping the final point into the net to seal his fate after one hour and 55 minutes on court.
Despite the defeat, the 27-year-old is still firmly in the running to make the eight-man event at the O2 that rounds out the season.
He won a title in Shenzhen and also reached the last four of the China Open in Beijing last week, while Stan Wawrinka, Kei Nishikori, Marin Cilic and Grigor Dimitrov all suffered early exits in Shanghai and Milos Raonic was forced to withdraw through illness.
Meanwhile, Tomas Berdych boosted his qualification hopes with a 6-3 6-4 win over Ivo Karlovic.
The Czech will now take over from US Open champion Cilic, who was beaten by Karlovic at the start of the week, in sixth place if he beats Gilles Simon in the quarter-finals.
Simon overcame Malek Jaziri of Tunisia 6-2 6-3, while fellow Frenchman Julien Benneteau beat American Jack Sock 6-3 6-4.
