Tommy Robredo put himself in contention to secure a berth in Shanghai after winning his sixth career ATP title at the Open de Moselle in Metz, France. The top-seeded Spaniard recovered from a disastrous start to defeat No. 3 seed Andy Murray 0-6, 6-2, 6-3 for his first hard-court ATP crown.
"This is my first title on hard-court and I hope that it won't be the last," said Robredo. "This year I played three finals on hard-court in Adelaide, Beijing and now here in Metz. I'm very happy about that. This win gives me a lot of confidence for the upcoming tournament in Madrid."
The win elevated Robredo to No. 8 in the ATP 2007 Race to Shanghai. The top eight players at the end of the regular ATP season on November 4 will qualify for the circuit-ending Tennis Masters Cup, to be held November 12-20 in Shanghai, China.
Murray won the first set in just 22 minutes, with Robredo winning eight points. However, Robredo regained his composure and broke serve in the first games of the second and third sets en route to victory in one hour and 53 minutes.
"I think I did well with my tactics but he played very well," added Robredo, who also beat Murray at Las Vegas in March 2006. "But I think that I was mentally strong, kept on fighting and the level was pretty equal from the second set on. My service games were easier than his service games. I started playing better and could finally win the second and the third set."
Two weeks ago, Robredo finished runner-up in Beijing (l. to Gonzalez). He won the Sopot title in August (d. Acasuso) and was a beaten finalist at Auckland in January (l. to Ferrer).
Robredo has a 47-23 match record this year. He saved two match points against German Florian Mayer of Germany in the first round on Monday.
He improves to 6-6 lifetime in ATP finals.
Murray was aiming to clinch his second ATP title of the year. In February, the Scot successfully defended his San Jose title (d. Karlovic).
"I think it was my serve more than anything," said Murray, now 2-4 in ATP finals and 8-11 vs. Top 10. "I had probably not more than 35% of first serves. Against a solid guy like Tommy who doesn't make a lot of mistakes you need free points from somewhere. I played a great first set. He wasn't playing so well at the beginning. I had a bad game at the start of the second set. Once he got that break he started to play better, he relaxed a little bit. Hopefully I'll learn from my mistakes and it won't happen again."
The 20-year-old Murray was sidelined due to a wrist injury for three months between May to August this year. He has a 33-11 season record. (ATP Digital Services)
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