Murray crushes Federer to win Shanghai Open tennis

SHANGHAI: Andy Murray buried remnants of his 2010 slump in indisputable fashion Sunday with a crushing 6-3, 6-2 defeat of Roger Federer to win a second Masters trophy of the season with victory in Shanghai.

It took less than 90 minutes for the fourth-ranked Murray to completely re-write his 2010 scenario and earn his second shield of the year -- also recording his second consecutive defeat of the Swiss in a Masters final.

Defeat denied Federer the chance to draw alongside Rafael Nadal on the all-time best of 18 Masters titles.

Murray now stands on a solid 8-5 lifetime record against Federer, who will move back to second in the world Monday behind Nadal thanks to his semi-final defeat of Novak Djokovic, which followed a hammering of two-time Roland Garros finalist Robin Soderling.

But Federer's form tapered away when it counted against Murray, who struck 20 winners, saved six break points and broke four times.

The performance is bound to restore the confidence of the prickly Scot, who was laughingly admonished during the trophy ceremony with pleas from the emcee to promise to smile more on his next visit.

Federer, with 30 unforced errors, saved a match point in the final game before Murray pulled through for victory under the open roof of the Qi Zhong centre.

The defeat dropped Federer to 2-4 in 2010 finals, with Murray improving his overall season record to 41-14.

In August, a fortnight before the start of the US Open, Murray lifted the Toronto trophy at Federer's expense. The 23-year-old Scot lost the Australian Open final to the Swiss in January.