Murray Joins 40 Titles Club, Kyrgios Claims Tokyo 500
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic
ATP Beijing
World #2 Andy Murray is making his push for a year end World number 1 ranking and he took a bed step towards that quest with a 6-4 7-6 victory over Grigor Dimitrov in the Beijing 500 level final. Murray dictated play, getting a needed break in the first set, and easing his way through in a second set tiebreak, despite Dimitrov’s best efforts, showing the difference in class and level between the two players. Murray has now claimed 40 titles in his career, and he’s clearly hungry for more.
Murray didn’t drop a set against Andreas Seppi, Andrey Kuznetsov, Kyle Edmund, and David Ferrer as he was the king of China for the week, and will look to continue that momentum in Shanghai.
Dimitrov moved to 35-22 on the season with wins over Steve Johnson, Lucas Pouille, and Rafael Nadal, who he dominated in straight sets after dropping sets in his first two matches. His semifinal opponent Milos Raonic went down with an injured ankle so he got a walkover into the final. Unfortunately for the Bulgarian, he is now 0-3 in ATP finals this season.
Pablo Carreno Busta and Rafael Nadal won the doubles title over Jack Sock and Bernard Tomic. Nadal now has 11 ATP doubles titles in his career plus an Olympic gold medal in doubles.
ATP Tokyo
Nick Kyrgios found himself down a set, and in deep trouble late in the third set as well, but the Australian showed surprising poise and a sense of calm as he slipped past David Goffin 4-6 6-3 7-5 and kept himself alive in the race for London. It was the biggest title of Kyrgios young career, worth 500 points, and despite throwing in some errors in the final match, he served well, while Goffin spewed errors when it mattered and got tight himself.
Kyrgios beat Ryan Harrison, Gilles Muller, and Gael Monfils without dropping a set in what was a big week for him. Goffin beat Yoshihito Nishioka, Jiri Vesely, Joao Sousa, and Marin Cilic, dropping just a set to Sousa prior to the final. He’s not the biggest guy on tour but his steady ball striking again yielded a great result.
In the ATP Race for London’s World Tour Finals, Monfils, Cilic, and Nadal boosted their standing, while Goffin and Kyrgios are on the edge of the race at 11th and 12th place respectively. Tomas Berdych and Kei Nishikori both struggled this week, but Nishikori still looks safe to qualify if he’s fit.
Marcel Granollers and Marcin Matkowski beat Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram in the doubles final.
Tennis Atlantic 