Andy Murray gets walkover into Shanghai Masters round three

 

Andy Murray has received a walkover into the third round of the Shanghai Masters after his opponent Florian Mayer withdrew with a wrist injury.

Murray, targeting a third straight Shanghai title, will now play his first match on Thursday against Alexander Dolgopolov of Ukraine.

Murray said: "Whoever I play will have played two matches in these conditions. It may take a while for me to adjust."

Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic both progressed to the third round.

World number one Federer beat Taiwan's Lu Yen-hsun 6-3 7-5 to set up a meeting with compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka.

Djokovic, who will regain the world number one ranking if he wins the title and Federer loses before the quarter-finals, overcame Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov 6-3 6-2 in 54 minutes.

The Serb will play Spain's Feliciano Lopez in the next round.

Interview - World number one Roger Federer

Murray, the British number one, goes into the tournament after losing to Canada's Milos Raonic in the semi-finals of the Rakuten Open in Tokyo on Sunday.

Ahead of the competition in China, Federer tipped the Scot to take over his world number one ranking - possibly by the end of the year - but Murray said such an outcome was unlikely.

While the top spot is in Murray's sights, the 25-year-old world number three believes world number two Djokovic will end 2012 on top of the rankings.

"It will be very difficult to finish the year as number one. I think Novak is too far off and guaranteed that," said Murray.

"I will keep working hard and focus for the rest of the year and hopefully have a chance next year."

The Scot believes winning his maiden Grand Slam title has changed his mindset for future events.

"I lost in Australia and straight away I'd be thinking about the French Open and Wimbledon, which wasn't necessarily the best thing for the tournaments I had coming up," he said.

"I'm hoping to be focused a lot more and not just looking at the next Grand Slam. I need to try to play well in all the tournaments I'm in."