Andy Murray crushed in Shanghai Masters by Nikolay Davydenko

Nov 16 2008

SHATTERED Andy Murray's Shanghai heroics took their toll last night as Nikolay Davydenko crushed his Masters Cup glory bid in the semi-finals.

The British No.1 couldn't match the heights and superhuman effort of Friday's epic win over Roger Federer, losing 7-5 6-2 to the Russian world No.5.

Murray understandably lacked his usual flair after the exploits against Federer and Davydenko will now face Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic, who earlier beat Frenchman Gilles Simon 4-6 6-3 7-5, in today's final.

But the upbeat Scot had no regrets about putting his all into the gruelling group clash because he's adamant beating the legendary Swiss was on a par with title success.

Murray said: "I beat probably the best player of all time, I have no regrets about doing that.

"To beat Federer means a similar amount to winning a tournament like this.

"Ideally I would have liked to have beaten him more easily and given myself a better chance to prepare for this match. But I don't like losing so I wasn't going to.

"I'm proud I gave 110 per cent. Other players might not have taken that option but I'm happy I did."

Defeat ends a breakthrough year for Murray in which he rose from 11th in the world to fourth with two Masters Series wins in Cincinnati and Madrid and his maiden Grand Slam final appearance at the US Open.

The in-form 21-year-old topped his group with the only 100 per cent record but was visibly tired from the off against Davydenko and wasn't helped by the fact the opening three games lasted 25 minutes.

Both players lost early service games in the first set then Davydenko crucially broke again for a 6-5 lead after successfully challenging a Murray ace at break point.

And after taking the first set in 62 minutes Davydenko breezed through the second virtually unchallenged with two breaks against a fading opponent.

Murray racked up just seven winners compared to 33 from Davydenko although the Scot had a slightly better unforced error count. He said: "I don't want to try to make excuses. Nikolay played much better than me.

"In the circumstances, naturally I was going to be tired. I did the best I could with what I had. I just felt a bit tired.

"He's a tough guy to play if you're not feeling like you can chase every ball down.

"He doesn't miss a lot and takes the ball so early. He played well and I couldn't get much going because he was making me do a lot of running."

After losing to Murray in Doha at the start of the year Davydenko gained revenge in Dubai in March and fancied his chances against the Scot.

The 27-year-old secured his semi-final berth on Thursday after beating Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro and admitted his extra day's rest combined with Murray's exploits against Federer worked in his favour.

He said: "Murray wanted to show everyone he is the best player because he beat Federer.

"And maybe he was tired, recovering in 24 hours after a gruelling three-hour match like that is difficult.

"Federer helped me win this one. It was tough and Murray was really tired - he wasn't 100 per cent fit.

"But he surprised me - he was running to every ball and played the same game he did last time we met.

"He did maybe make a few more mistakes but ran for an hour and a half. He still had the power."

Davydenko will now turn his attention to Djokovic and despite suffering a three-sets loss to the Serb in the round robin stage last week he is confident of becoming the first Russian Masters Cup champion.

Davydenko said: "Djokovic may have more confidence in the final but he didn't play well today.

"He was not consistent, not in every game and on every point. If he plays the same maybe I have a chance.

"I lost 7-5 in the third set against him earlier this week but it is now a different situation - this is a final."