Andy Murray masters Shanghai

Andy Murray of Britain holds up his winner trophy after defeating Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain in the men's singles final of the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament. (Photo: AP)

Andy Murray demolished Roberto Bautista 7-6 (7/1), 6-1 on Sunday as he won the Shanghai Masters without dropping a set and slashed the gap on world number one Novak Djokovic.

The Wimbledon and Olympic champion won seven points in a row in the first-set tie-breaker and broke Bautista three times in the second set to lift his third Shanghai title.

Second-ranked Murray has now won 20 straight sets in a 10-match winning streak, marching to back-to-back titles in China including last week’s China Open victory in Beijing.

Murray also cuts the gap on Djokovic, who was shocked by Spain’s Bautista in the semis, to 915 points as he zeroes in on the Serb’s top ranking.

Murray’s first serve of the match was a thumping ace and he took a grip on the first set at 3-3 when Bautista netted a backhand to lose the first break point of the match.

But Murray, serving at 5-4, lost three set points and got in a tangle on a drop shot to hand Bautista his first break point, which he converted with a strong forehand.

The Briton slammed three consecutive aces for 6-6 and he dominated the tie-break, winning seven points in a row and taking the set with a sizzling backhand return.

A string of Bautista errors put Murray a break up at the start of set two, but to his obvious frustration he gave it straight back with a miscued forehand.

But Bautista twice double faulted to go a break down before handing over yet another break, making victory a formality for Murray who buried his first championship point.

With his 41st tournament victory and sixth this year, Murray joins Stefan Edberg in joint 15th place on the list of Open-era title winners.

Wozniacki clinches crown Hong Kong: Former world number one Caroline Wozniacki beat unseeded French challenger Kristina Mladenovic to take the Hong Kong Open on Sunday after a battle of wills that lasted almost three hours.

Wozniacki of Denmark, seeded fifth in the competition, stormed the first set 6-1 with Mladenovic visibly despondent and limping slightly.

The 23-year-old French woman emerged in the second set with her right leg bandaged and renewed focus, forcing Wozniacki to dive around the court with a combination of drop shots and powerful drives.

It was the latest strong performance in a resurgent season which saw her reach the semifinals of the US Open and win the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.

Peng wins first tour title Tianjin, China: Chinese veteran Peng Shuai beat American Alison Riske 7-6(3) 6-2 in the final of the Tianjin Open to capture her first Tour title on Sunday.

The 30-year-old Peng was winless in six previous finals but saved 10 of the 12 break points she faced against Riske to wrap up the tense encounter in one hour 46 minutes.

Yuki loses in semis Houston, USA: Yuki Bhambri fought hard before losing the singles semi-finals of the Houston Cup, a ITF Futures event, to American Wil Spencer, here. The top seed Indian, who is making a comeback to the competitive tennis after a six-month injury break, lost 2-6, 6-4, 5-7 to his unseeded rival in the hard court event.