Murray rocks crocked Djokovic

 

Originally published on: 20/12/11 10:16

Andy Murray denied Novak Djokovic his 10th title of 2011 at the Western & Southern Open, controlling the title match for a set-and-a-half before the waning Serb retired with a shoulder injury.

Dominating from the outset after scoring an immediate break, the Scot had bossed his way into a commanding 6-4 3-0 lead when the world No.1 decided to call it quits.

“I just could not serve. I served an average 90 miles per hour the first serve, and I could not play forehands,” lamented Djokovic.

“I could have maybe played another couple of games, but what for? I cannot beat a player like Murray today with one stroke.”

Murray, who also won the AEGON Championships this July, picked up his second title of the season, and in claiming his second win in Cincinnati the Scot became just the second player this season to stop Djokovic from winning a tournament.

“I would obviously liked to have won by finishing the match, but it happens sometimes,” said Murray, who defeated David Nalbandian, Alex Bogomolov Jr, Gilles Simon and Mardy Fish before benefiting from the world No.1’s retirement in the title decider.

“I have to look at the week as a whole – it’s been very good,” added the Scot. “Coming in here I had played badly in Montreal, so I needed to have a good week. Regardless of the match today, I was happy with the way that it had gone.”

Though Djokovic’s near-perfect record for the season slipped to 57-2, the Belgrade native said: “The good thing is that there is a week, eight days [before] the start of the US Open.”

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