World number two Andy Murray claimed his 40th ATP World Tour title and fifth title of the year by winning the China Open for the first time. The Brit took out Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 7-6, to take the title without dropping a set.
The one break gifted to Murray in the opening game was enough to give him the first set. Dimitrov showed flashes of brilliance, but too many errors meant that Murray was for the most part in control. The second set was very tight, just as Murray finally got a break through and looked to be on his way to the title, he had a shocking game on serve to hand Dimitrov the break back as he was serving for the match. Murray recovered from the unexpected break to dominate the tie-break and claim the title.
Early advantage
A double fault from Dimitrov gifted Murray a break of serve to open the match. Murray held with ease, all of the long rallies so far going the way of the Brit. Murray continued piling on the pressure, with a huge return followed by an incredible passing shot leaving Dimitrov in more danger on serve. The Bulgarian managed to fight back from 0-30 to 40-30. Deep groundstrokes from the top seed set up the point perfectly to put the ball away at the net to take the pair to deuce. Dimitrov fought through and managed to get his first game on the board, with Murray leading 2-1.
Murray sailed through his service game, holding to love to take a 3-1 lead. Dimitrov then got his first easy hold of the set so far to stay in touch. A loose forehand from Murray gave Dimitrov a break-point, but the return off of a huge first serve from Murray just drifted long to erase the danger quickly and Murray held on to his lead, 4-2.
A horrific drop shot attempt from Dimitrov landed in the net to give Murray a lead on his opponent's serve. Murray switched up the direction well, injecting pace to force the error from Dimitrov and once again go within two points of the break. Two big first serves from the Bulgarian got him back level at 30-30, and another game point came and went as Murray fought for another break point. Dimitrov worked the next point well to go back to deuce but a double fault gave Murray another break point straight away. Dimitrov continued battling, and eventually held on in the longest game of the match.
Murray came through another easy hold of serve to go one game away from taking the first set. Dimitrov wasn't feeling the pressure as he served to stay in the set as an impressive hold forced Murray to serve it out. Dimitrov got off to a good start on the return as he looked to repeat the heroics of his second round match where he broke back when Lucas Pouille was serving for the match, but there was no such luck this time as Murray held to take the first set 6-4.
Struggling to victory
Dimitrov avoided a repeat of the shaky start of the first set as he served first in the second and held with ease. Another easy hold followed for Murray, and he went on the offensive in the next game to try and secure another early break. Dimitrov survived an onslaught from the Brit and broke through his incredible defense to stay ahead on the scoreboard at 2-1.
There were chances on the return for Dimitrov at 30-30, but Murray stayed focused on holding on and not allowing the Bulgarian a look at a break point. Murray then found himself in the same position. At 30-30, Dimitrov managed to battle for a game point, but a string of loose shots not helped by Murray's great defence, gave the Brit the break and a 3-2 lead as he closed in on the title.
Murray held in a game that saw two challenges from the Bulgarian with mixed outcomes. Dimitrov challenged a Murray return at 30-30 in the middle of a rally and got the challenge wrong- a careless waste of a big opportunity. A bit of a loose return game followed for Murray as Dimitrov held easily, but Murray stayed ahead at 4-3.
Another comfortable hold each left Murray serving for the match. A lung-busting 43 stroke rally went the way of Dimitrov as he made a last-ditch effort to get the break back. A loose forehand from Murray gave Dimitrov a huge chance at 0-30 and two shocking misses gave Dimitrov his first break of the Murray serve at the most crucial time. A disastrous return game left Murray serving to stay in the set.
The top seed found his first serve when he needed it to get the hold to love that he would have wished to have two games previously to take the pair to an unexpected tiebreak. The first point on the Dimitrov serve went the way of Murray to take a mini-break lead. Dimitrov fought aggressively to get the mini-break straight back but Murray held on to his next point to stay ahead. A shank off the frame of Dimitrov's racket gave the Brit another mini-break lead, and a horribly timed error took Murray to 4-1. Again, Dimitrov attacked with his forehand to get one of the mini-breaks back but Murray hung on to the next two points and earned himself four championship points, but in the end, he only needed one as Dimitrov hit his 40th error of the match to seal Murray's 40th title.