Murray and Ferrer Advance to Set Up Crucial Third Round Match in Shanghai

Andy Murray was one of the few big names to move on in Shanghai Wednesday defeating Poland’s Jerzy Janowicz 7-5, 6-2 to push into the third-round of the Masters tournament.

The win puts him into a key third-round bout with Spaniard David Ferrer, as the two are on the outside looking in for the Race to London standings. Murray currently sits ninth, while Ferrer is currently in 10th place, with just the top eight making it to the ATP World Tour Finals in London.

“All of the players that are looking to qualify for the World Tour Finals will be aware of what’s going on,” said Murray. “But you need to just concentrate on trying to win your matches. That’s the best thing that you can do for your chances to qualify. I haven’t been in this position for awhile, so in some ways it’s kind of new. But I’m enjoying it so far.”

Murray has done well to increase his chances of reaching the end of the year tournament. After his title in Shenzhen, the 27-year old has looked very impressive in the opening days of the Shanghai tournament.

The third-round test will be a difficult one, though, as he meets Ferrer on Thursday. The Spaniard also avoided the upset bug that was going around Wednesday, fighting back from a set down to take out Slovakian Martin Klizan  4-6, 7-6(4), 6-4 in nearly two and a half hours.

Ferrer had struggled of late, dropping his opening round matches in Shenzhen and Tokyo, which dropped him to 10th in the Race to London standings.  He is right back in the driver’s seat as he takes on Murray in the third-round where a win would go a long way towards his London hopes.

The Scot carries a 7-2 head-to-head record versus Ferrer into the bout Thursday.

“You need to play a high, high level to win against him,” said Murray of Ferrer. “He certainly doesn’t give away many matches during the year. Certainly hasn’t given me any matches when I’ve played against him.”

Top-seeded Novak Djokovic cruised into the third-round as well, disposing of Austrian Dominic Thiem 6-3, 6-4, extending his match winning streak in China to 26.

“He was going for it. I don’t blame him,” said Djokoivc of Thiem, who, despite the loss, looked impressive with his shot-making. “He’s a young player, playing on center court; it’s his opportunity to shine. He did well. I thought we played some really good points and a great match overall.”

Djokovic moves on to play Mikhail Kukushkin in the third-round.

Tomas Berdych, whom Djokovic defeated in the Beijing final on Sunday, pushed his way into the Shanghai third-round Wednesday. The sixth-seeded Czech blew past France’s Richard Gasquet for the 6-3, 6-1 victory.

He gets Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic next.

American John Isner outlasted fellow American Steve Johnson in two tiebreakers to win 7-6(6), 7-6(7).