Shanghai Final Preview

The championship of the Shanghai Rolex Masters features World No. 3 Roger Federer against No. 4 Andy Murray. Both players have not dropped a set this week going into the final. They have been broken twice each in the first four matches, holding a combined 69 of 73 games.

This will be their third final meeting of the season and 13th overall encounter. Murray leads the series 7-5, all coming on hard courts, but Federer is 3-1 in finals. They met in the Australian Open final on Jan. 31 as Federer defeated the Scot in straight sets. Then just over two months ago (on Aug. 15) at the Rogers Cup in Toronto, Murray defended his Canadian title with a 7-5, 7-5 victory. They met once before in Shanghai in a Tennis Masters Cup round robin match two years ago and Murray prevailed in three sets.

Federer is trying to equal Rafael Nadal’s record of 18 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles while Murray is looking for his sixth career ATP Masters 1000 crown. Federer is 2-3 in finals while Murray is 1-2 in title matches this year. If Federer wins his 64th career title he will tie Pete Sampras for No. 4 on the Open Era titles list. By reaching the final, Federer will return to No. 2 next week in the South African Airways 2010 ATP Rankings while Murray will remain No. 4.

WHAT’S AT STAKE

Winner: $ 616,500 and 1000 South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking points
Runner-up: $ 302,000 and 600 South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking points

FINALS HISTORY

Murray - Appearing in his 24th ATP World Tour level final...He is 15-8 in finals (1-2 in ’10)
Appearing in his 7th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final...He is 5-1 in finals

Federer - Appearing in his 91st ATP World Tour level final...He is 63-27 in finals (2-3 in ’10)
Appearing in his 29th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final...He is 17-11 in finals

ATP WORLD TOUR MASTERS 1000 TITLE LEADERS (since 1990) –

Federer is attempting to match Rafael Nadal’s mark of 18 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles in his career while Murray is trying to earn his sixth title.

South African Airways 2010 Year-to-Date Rankings –

The top four players have already qualified for the season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London. Here is a look at the latest points standings based on 2010 results (updated going into the final):
1 Rafael Nadal 11,450
2 Roger Federer 6,625 (add 400 points with final win)
3 Novak Djokovic 5,525
4 Andy Murray 4,735 (add 400 points with final win)
5 Robin Soderling 4,200
6 Tomas Berdych 3,665
7 David Ferrer 3,325
8 Andy Roddick 3,305
9 Fernando Verdasco 3,150
10 Mikhail Youzhny 2,805

SUNDAY CHAMPIONSHIP HEAD-TO-HEADS –

(4) Andy Murray (GBR) vs (3) Roger Federer (SUI) Murray Leads 7-5 (all on hard)
05 Bangkok (Thailand) Hard Final Roger Federer 6-3 7-5
06 ATP Masters Series Cincinnati Hard R32 Andy Murray 7-5 6-4
08 Dubai (U.A.E.) Hard R32 Andy Murray 6-7(6)6-3 6-4
08 US Open (U.S.A.) Hard Final Roger Federer 6-2 7-5 6-2
08 ATP Masters Series Madrid (Spain) Hard SF Andy Murray 3-6 6-3 7-5
08 Tennis Masters Cup (Shanghai) Hard RR Andy Murray 4-6 7-6(3)7-5
09 Doha (Qatar) Hard SF Andy Murray 6-7(6) 6-2 6-2
09 ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells Hard SF Andy Murray 6-3 4-6 6-1
09 ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati (U.S.A.)Hard SF Roger Federer 6-2 7-6(8)
09 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals Hard RR Roger Federer 3-6 6-3 6-1
10 Australian Open (Australia) Hard Final Roger Federer 6-3 6-4 7-6(11)
10 ATP Masters 1000 Toronto (Canada) Hard Final Andy Murray 7-5 7-5

Sets Won: (Federer 17-15) Tiebreak Sets Won: (Federer 4-1)


MURRAY FASTFACTS

Tournament Highlights:
• The 23-year-old Scot has not dropped a set in his tournament debut…He opened on Wednesday with a 62 62 win over wild card Yan Bai and followed with a 63 64 victory over Frenchman qualifier Jeremy Chardy, a 62 62 triumph over No. 12 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and 64 61 win over Juan Monaco
• This week has held serve 33 of 35 games (94%) while saving 10 of 12 break points…Also leads tournament in first serve points won (86%), return games won (15 of 33, 45%) and points won returning first serve (43%)

2010 Highlights:
W: ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Toronto (d Federer); F: Australian Open (l Federer); Los Angeles (l Querrey); SF: Wimbledon (l Nadal); QF: ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l Soderling); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid (l Ferrer); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Cincinnati (l Fish); Beijing (l Ljubicic)

2010 in Review:
• The World No. 4 is appearing in his fourth final (1-2) and he comes in with a 40-14 match record on the season (28-8 on hard)…He is 15-8 lifetime in finals, including 5-1 in ATP World Tour Masters 1000 play
• In August he captured his first ATP World Tour title of the year in Toronto where he beat former World No. 3 David Nalbandian (QF), No. 1 Nadal (SF) and No. 3 Federer (F) in straight sets…It was his fifth career ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown and first title since Nov. 8, 2009 in Valencia (d. Youzhny)
• He became the fifth player to beat Nadal and Federer in the same tournament, joining Nikolay Davydenko (twice), Nalbandian (twice), Juan Martin del Potro and Djokovic
• On Thursday he became the fourth player to qualify for the season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London, joining Nadal, Djokovic and Federer thus far in the eight-player field…This will be the third straight year he’s in the finale
• This is the British No. 1’s second tournament since losing in the 3rd Rd. at the US Open to Wawrinka in a four-set battle (3:56) on Sept. 5…Last week he made the quarters in Beijing (l. to Ljubicic)
• He was a semi-finalist at Wimbledon for the second straight year (l. to Nadal) and runner-up on Aug. 1 in Los Angeles (l. to Querrey after holding a match point)
• He opened the year by reaching his second career Grand Slam final at the Australian Open…He lost only one set en route to the final, posting wins over John Isner (4th Rd.), No. 2 Rafael Nadal QF) and Marin Cilic (SF) before falling in straight sets to No. 1 Roger Federer
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 History:
• Has a 90-37 career match record (17-6 this season) and 5-1 mark in finals…Won his first two titles in Cincinnati (d. Djokovic) and in Madrid (d. Federer in SF, d. Simon in final) in 2008…Last year won titles in Miami (d. Djokovic) and Montreal (d. del Potro) while reaching the final in Indian Wells

Miscellaneous:
• Has a 39-29 career mark vs. Top 10 opponents (4-3 this year) and won his last two over Nadal (SF) and Federer (F) in Toronto in August…Also has a 6-6 record vs. Top 10 foes in finals
• In 2009, the Scot captured an ATP World Tour best six titles and reached a career-high No. 2 ranking in August before finishing No. 4 for the second straight year…Led circuit with .857 winning percentage as he compiled a 66-11 match record
• Has a 15-8 career record in ATP World Tour finals and his 15 titles is the most by a British man in the Open Era…Greg Rusedski won 15 career titles (13 as a British citizen) and Tim Henman 11 titles

FEDERER FASTFACTS

Tournament Highlights:
• The Swiss superstar has rolled into the final without dropping a set (losing serve twice in 38 games)…
Has saved eight of 10 break points and No. 2 in points won returning first serve (41%)
• He made his tournament debut Wednesday with a 63 64 win over John Isner and followed with the identical result over Andreas Seppi…Then beat No. 5 Soderling 61 61 in the quarter-finals and No. 2 Djokovic 75 64 in the semi-finals
• He has compiled solid results in the Qizhong Tennis Center, posting a 14-4 mark between 2005-08 when the Tennis Masters Cup was held here…Won titles in 2006-07 and reached the final in ’05…Went 1-2 in round robin play in ‘08

2010 Highlights:
W: Australian Open (d Murray); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Cincinnati (d Fish); F: ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid (l Nadal); Halle (l Hewitt); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Toronto (l Murray); SF: Doha (l Davydenko); Estoril (l Montanes); US Open (l Djokovic); QF: Roland Garros (l Soderling); Wimbledon (l Berdych)

2010 in Review:
• The 29-year-old Swiss native is appearing in his sixth final in 14th tournament of the season…He is 2-3 in finals this year…He has a 48-11 match record (30-5 on hard) this season…Also has a 128-63 career mark vs. Top 10 opponents (8-5 this year)
• His 63 titles is tied for No. 5 on the Open Era titles list (w/Bjorn Borg) and he’s one title away from tying Pete Sampras for No. 4
• He is looking to capture his 18th career ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title and tie Nadal for the all-time record…The Spaniard broke Andre Agassi’s mark (17) with his title in Madrid in May…He is playing in his fourth straight ATP Masters 1000 final…He was runner-up in Madrid (l. to Nadal), Toronto (l. to Murray), won in Cincinnati (d. Fish) and now in the final here…He also reached four straight finals in ‘07
• This is his first tournament since reaching the US Open semi-finals (l. to Djokovic in five sets) on Sept. 11…Prior to that he won he repeated his title at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Cincinnati (d. Fish)…This is his 91th career ATP World Tour level final (63-27) and 29th career ATP Masters 1000 final (17-11), both bests among active players…It is also his 899th career singles match (726-172 record)
• In August, he reached the final at the Rogers Cup in Toronto (l. to No. 4 Murray 75 75)…It was his first tournament of the U.S. summer since reaching the quarters at Wimbledon on June 30 (l. to Berdych)
• In the first month of the season, reached the semi-finals in Doha (l. to Davydenko) and followed with his 16th career Grand Slam crown at the Australian Open (d. Murray)…He’s won at least one Slam title for eight consecutive years, tying the mark of Bjorn Borg and Pete Sampras
• His other finals came at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid (l. to Nadal) in May and Halle (l. to Hewitt) in June
• He has ranked No. 1 for 285 weeks, one week short from all-time leader Pete Sampras (286) atop the South African Airways ATP Rankings…He slipped to No. 2 on June 7 after Roland Garros where he lost in the quarter-finals to Soderling…Then went to No. 3 after Wimbledon on July 5
• In the first two ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments, he reached the third round in Indian Wells (d. Hanescu, losing to Baghdatis in a third set tie-break after holding three match points) on Mar. 16 and followed in Miami, he lost in the fourth round to Berdych in a third set tie-break (after holding match point) on Mar. 30…Opened year with a semi-final showing in Doha (l. to eventual champ Davydenko)

ATP World Tour Masters 1000 History:
• He is the all-time leader in ATP World Tour Masters 1000 match wins (221) and this year is 19-5… He surpassed Andre Agassi, who posted 209 wins from 1990-2006…Has a career record of 221-66 and has won 17 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles (17-11), along with Agassi (17), trailing only Nadal (18)
• He is trying to capture his seventh different tournament title – Hamburg (four times), Indian Wells (three times), Cincinnati (four times), Miami (twice), Toronto (twice) and Madrid (twice) and runner-up in two others – Monte Carlo (three times) and Rome (twice)…The only final he hasn’t reached is Paris

Miscellaneous:
• The only player in the history of the ATP Rankings (since 1973) to finish No. 1 or 2 for seven straight years…Finished No. 2 in 2003 and No. 1 from 2004-07, ’09, and No. 2 again in ‘08
• The all-time men’s leader with 16 Grand Slam titles is one of 10 players in the Open Era with at least 700 career match wins…He is No. 9 with 726 match wins…Ilie Nastase is No. 8 with 755 wins
• Here with former ATP pro and Sampras mentor Paul Annacone…Also trains and travels part-time to tournaments with Swiss coach Severin Luthi

Courtesy: ATPWorldTour