After Nadal's loss on Thursday, the tournament's foregone conclusion was realized when Andy Murray defeated David Ferrer in the Shanghai final 7-5 6-4. Murray went 14-0 in Bangkok, Tokyo, and Shanghai to dominate the Asian swing. He won his 8th career Masters title (tying him with Muster for 6th since 1990), 5th title of 2011 and 21st of his career. He also moves past Roger Federer to become the world no. 3 again. Now we will see if this leads to anything more for Murray, specifically at the World Tour Finals or Australia, or if this is another Master's high that fails to lead to any slam success. Ferrer is now 0-3 in Masters finals but solidifies his spot in the top 5 as we near the year's end.
The top two seeds met in the final of the WTA International tournament in Osaka, Japan, which was the matchup we wanted there. Marion Bartoli defeated Sam Stosur 6-3 6-1 in the final for her 7th career title and second of this year. It may be too little too late but Bartoli kept herself mathematically in contention for the year end championships with the title. She would need to win Moscow while Radwanska would need to lose her first match, but it is possible. Stosur was able to get back on the winning track after a mini-slump following her US Open success, while it had been a prolonged drought for Bartoli through the summer and early fall which will likely cost her a championships invitation after Radwanska's rampage through Asia.
In Linz, Austria it was all the Czech #1 as Petra Kvitova swept through the draw to win her 5th title of 2011 and the 6th of her career. She knocked off Dominika Cibulkova in the final 6-4 6-1. The Slovak is still looking for her first career title. For the women, this seemed to be the week for snapping skids as Kvitova had been just 5-5 since winning her first major at Wimbledon.
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