Shanghai Suprise Beckons for Murray After Triumph in St Petersburg

Andy Murray continued his unexpected late-season surge for a place in the Tennis Masters Cup next month with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Fernando Verdasco in the final of the St Petersburg Open. The wrist injury that bedeviled Murray's summer was consigned firmly to the past as the Scot claimed his third career title and moved to 11th place in the standings for the season-ending Shanghai event, which is open to the world's top eight players.

Murray will need a good showing in the Paris Masters next week to make up the necessary ground on eighth-placed Tommy Haas, but his cause received a welcome boost with victory over Verdasco, who produced an erratic display that belied his world ranking of 30.

The Spaniard began the match nervously, conceding an early break with a succession of forehand errors in the third game. Murray suffered a momentary loss of concentration when a line-call challenge went against him in the next game, but recovered from 0-30 with some powerful serving to consolidate his advantage.

That proved a key moment for the Scot, who maintained the pressure on the increasingly erratic Spaniard with some relentless hitting until, at 4-2, a trio of backhand errors by Verdasco yielded a second break. In the next game, Murray sealed the set with an ace.

As Verdasco continued to struggle off the ground, Murray maintained his winning momentum, breaking the Spaniard in the opening game of the second to establish an ultimately decisive edge.

Meanwhile, Wimbledon and US Open champion Roger Federer won the Swiss Indoors title to secure the season-ending No1 ranking for the fourth successive year. The hometown favorite mounted a successful defense of his title with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Jarkko Nieminen in Basle.