Andy Murray gets walkover into Shanghai Masters round three

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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.

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."

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262 comments

  • Comment posted by magicroundaboutcentral, at 16:11 8 Oct 2012

    Looking forward to the "he'll never be No1" brigade.....probably the same brigade that said he'd NEVER win a major!

    Personally think he could get to No1 but will be a huge challenge/achievement if he manages it!

  • Comment posted by TheJags, at 16:30 8 Oct 2012

    Every time I read a comment by el chavo, I feel as if I lose a few IQ points.

    One can only assume he's been reading his own work for years.

  • Comment posted by ayrtonsenna, at 16:38 8 Oct 2012

    Murray has wholeheartedly won me over with his attitude over the last few years - works hard, has stopped moaning and his spirit and support of team mates at the Olympics was incredible to watch from the outside. Well done Murray, next year is going to be big for you!

  • Comment posted by U14755047, at 16:51 8 Oct 2012

    Give El Chavo a break... he wasn't given any love as a child which is why he seeks any attention he can by trolling.

  • Comment posted by slimbo77, at 17:06 8 Oct 2012

    GranSlam winner, Andy Murray has inspired so many. Not just in tennis either. He's inspired the likes of El chavo del 8 to learn a few basic English words and string them together in a sentence... albeit, not a coherent one, but still, it shows basic literacy skills. Without AM to fuel his hatefilled drive towards this simple goal, he may never have got there. Well done AM, and well done El Chavo.

  • Comment posted by U14966550, at 19:19 8 Oct 2012

    I don't like the "Is Chavo Tim Henman" jokes, Henman's always been supportive of Murray and never had any delusions regarding his own place in history in relation to Murray's. Henman had an above-average career anyway, he has no reason to feel jealous of Murray because he was a massive overachiever who ironically was unlucky not to achieve even more. No doubt Murray is far better, though.

  • Comment posted by U14966550, at 23:29 8 Oct 2012

    79. Name Number 6
    "Murray's anti- English rants are well documented."

    Yes they are, but sadly not by the likes of you. Murray never made an 'anti-English rant', let alone multiple ones. These comments taken out of context about the World Cup during friendly banter have been tackled time and time again, yet you continue to raise them like a child who can't stop touching the stove. It's bile.

  • Comment posted by Kapnag, at 16:36 8 Oct 2012

    #11 he's not a patch on the petulant children that have spent the last few years labelling him everything they could think of and not even have the decency to congratulate him on a monumental season

  • Comment posted by The Milk Man, at 16:18 8 Oct 2012

    No. 1 isn't too important. Wimbledon is the big goal, big smiles, big payday and 10000 British kids will pick up a tennis racket as a result.

  • Comment posted by U14484535, at 16:12 8 Oct 2012

    Maybe El chavo would like to take his stupid trolling elsewhere and leave this discussion to people who actually FOLLOW tennis and understand how the rankings work. And by the way, the US Open clearly doesn't count as an 'important' tournament (yes that was sarcasm too).

  • Comment posted by siquando, at 17:40 8 Oct 2012

    Ha ha! El Chavo your back, you went very quiet after all your miserable U.S open predictions were wrong! seems you are not prepared to admit that Murray is a fine tennis player yet though. will you do so when he does become number 1? I am not sure he will reach 12 slam wins as someone else is predicting but somewhere between 4-8 is certainly attainable.

  • Comment posted by Dismas, at 16:36 8 Oct 2012

    @Planetbloo (13). Please don't insult Mr Henman by claiming he could have anything to do with the troll you mentioned

    On another note: Murray seems to win every match when 1st serve % is greater than 65 and lose if it is not. When serving well he can beat anyone but somehow needs to work on that consistency. I still think it is a mental block that might have been erased by the win in New York

  • Comment posted by Dave, at 16:27 8 Oct 2012

    Those "Mickey Mouse" tournaments counting towards Andy's ranking comprise exactly one more Masters 1000 event, and one less World Tour 500 event.

    Nice try, El Chavo. Check the facts next time.

  • Comment posted by U14549011, at 05:20 9 Oct 2012

    Frequently commenting on others' comments is a sign that you are trying to provoke people into an emotional response, which is trolling. You've commented on seven people's comments and you don't think you have a problem. Seek professional help.

  • Comment posted by lifelongrugbyfan, at 00:22 9 Oct 2012

    Andy Murray is Scottish and British. He is not English and would not therefore be comfortable being described as English or as representing England. In tennis as in the Olympics GB is the recognized country. The only was he will represent Scotland is if he plays in the commonwealth games or if Scotland wins independence. He will support Scotland in sporting events.

  • Comment posted by Early Ball, at 23:24 8 Oct 2012

    Andy must have had a lot of freak weather in his career. Only seven players in the history of the game have won more money than him.
    If he plays well this week it will be six.

    Deal with it.

  • Comment posted by jimthree60, at 16:28 8 Oct 2012

    Good luck in this Master's tournament Murray - I think it's a title he could do with defending just to build on the US Open success. OK, so I've said that before... Also good to see that he's being level-headed about it. I think he might make #1 this time next year.

  • Comment posted by hoopsa17, at 16:08 8 Oct 2012

    For the 1st time I genuinely believe this is actually possible. He's a better tennis player than Novak. Just needs a more consistent serve and the belief that Novak has.

  • Comment posted by malmcleod1408, at 23:40 9 Oct 2012

    @ jimthree60

    Don't bother arguing. You can't win.

    NN6 has his own list that tells him where everyone in the world is from and who they should represent at any particular sport.

    His list takes no account of:

    1) The wishes of the individual involved
    2) The rules of the governing body of the sport involved

    and as such is a much more accurate tool to judge these things by.

  • Comment posted by Kristofferson, at 19:55 8 Oct 2012

    @1. El chavo del 8

    Grow up.

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