Andy Murray suffered another first-round defeat as he was beaten by Roman
Safiullin 6-3 6-2 at the Shanghai Masters, as Jannik Sinner claimed the China Open title.
Murray, who was handed an early exit from the China Open by Alex De Minaur, lost his opening service game and then missed chances to quickly break back as Safiullin moved in to a 2-0 lead.
It was the Russian who then took the next chance to break, which saw him clinch the first set 6-3.
Murray looked to regroup for the second set, but Safiullin – back in action for the first time since he reached the final of the Chengdu Open – remained on the front foot.
Another early break saw the Russian go 2-0 up, and although Murray, who has won the Shanghai tournament three times, quickly broke back, he then failed to hold his serve to hand Safiullin a 3-1 lead.
Murray continued to cut a frustrated figure, swearing as another marginal line call went against him in the seventh game.
It appeared only a matter of time before Safiullin would close out victory, and he was gifted a first match-point opportunity when Murray sent a routine forehand return into the net.
With Murray having moved up court after his serve, Safiullin sent a deep return, which was called out – but a review showed the ball had dropped just on the very back edge of the baseline.
In the next round, Safiullin will play Alexander Zverev again, the German world No 10 having beaten him over three sets in the final of the Chengdu Open last month.
Sinner defeats Medvedev to win in Beijing
Sinner produced a determined display to capture his third title of the year and ninth overall with a 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-2) victory over second seed Daniil Medvedev in the final of the China Open.
The Italian came into the clash having lost to Medvedev in their previous six meetings, including two earlier this season in the finals of Rotterdam and Miami, but the Italian kept pace with his opponent and sealed the first set via a tie-break.
Both players struck brutal blows from the baseline and raced through their service games in the next set, before the 22-year-old Sinner raised his level again in the tie-break to complete a memorable win in Beijing.
“It means a lot,” Sinner said of his win which followed a victory over Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals. “A lot of work.
“I felt like I was prepared for this match today. I’ve lost many times against him. It feels great especially when you beat a player you’ve never won against and this was a positive week.
“I had to overcome some tough challenges and I’m very proud of myself, how I handled the situations. It has been awesome.”
Sinner will become the second Italian in the history of the ATP rankings (since 1973) to break into the top five when the latest list is released and will match Adriano Panatta’s ranking of four, which was achieved in August 1976.
Meanwhile, Great Britain’s Neal Skupski and Dutch partner Wesley Koolhof were defeated in the men’s doubles final, going down 6-7 (12-14) 6-3 10-5 against Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek.
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