Murray beats Agut to claim Shanghai masters

Andy Murray secured his sixth title of 2016 with a 7-6 (7-1) 6-1 victory over Roberto Bautista Agut at the Shanghai Masters.

The Briton, who has now won 20 sets in a row, becomes only the second three-time winner of the event, joining the esteemed company of Bautista Agut’s semi-final victim Novak Djokovic.

Murray, who is aiming to topple the Serbian at the summit of the world rankings, followed up last week’s China Open triumph with another classy display in Asia.

It marks his 13th Masters title and second this year, having also tasted success in Rome.

Yet he did not have it all his own way on Sunday. The Spaniard started in confident mood, forcing Murray onto the back foot with precision serving and some aggressive returns.

He produced a stunning drop shot to keep Murray at bay when the fifth game went to deuce on Bautista Agut’s serve.

The underdog was undone in the seventh game as Murray broke, though he was uncharacteristically sloppy when serving for the set as Bautista Agut hit back.

Murray served three aces in holding to love to take momentum into a tie-break that he won with ease.

He was just as unrelenting at the start of the second set, hitting winners from scarcely believable angles as Bautista Agut’s challenge appeared to fade.

But Murray’s rhythm was disrupted by what the world number two felt was a late challenge in the third game, which denied him an ace as his serve was broken.

Bautista Agut failed to cement that and back-to-back double faults cost him dearly as Murray reclaimed the upper hand and surged to victory.