SHANGHAI - Andy Murray failed in his bid to make it a hat-trick of titles at the Shanghai Masters after losing a three-set thriller to Novak Djokovic.In their first meeting since Murray’s win in the US Open final, Djokovic triumphed 5-7 7-6 (13-11) 6-3.Murray edged the first set, which had seven breaks of serve, with Djokovic reacting angrily by smashing a racket.Djokovic saved five match points in the second set before levelling the match and then did enough for victory.In a top-class match, Murray showed plenty of the form he displayed in beating world number one Roger Federer in Saturday’s semi-finals but Djokovic, who had lost his last two matches against the Scot at Flushing Meadows and in the Olympic semi-final at Wimbledon, threw everything at him.The second set was packed with drama with Murray breaking to lead 4-3 and he served for the match at 5-4 but Djokovic saved his first match point to level it and he then saved four more in the tie-break, which lasted more than 20 minutes, sealing the set with a volley that led to fist-pumping celebrations.With the momentum in his favour, Djokovic broke to go 4-3 up in the decider and broke Murray again in the ninth game when the Scot went long with a backhand.It ended the Scot’s winning run in Shanghai and gave Djokovic his fifth title of the year.Agencies
