Murray floors Nadal to win Japan Open title

TOKYO: World number four Andy Murray claimed his second singles title in two weeks by coming from a set behind to beat Spain’s Rafael Nadal in the Japan Open final on Sunday.
The 24-year-old Briton, fresh from winning the Thailand Open a week ago, put an end to his losing streak of five consecutive defeats to Nadal by scoring a 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 victory over the top seed.
Thus, he ended Nadal’s bid to become the first man since Pete Sampras in 1993-94 to retain the Tokyo crown.
Nadal started with a stylish game to love, while Murray struggled with his first serve early on and lost the first set.
But in a remarkable second set turnaround Murray’s serve clicked into place and jumped into a 3-1 lead. He rained down three aces in a row for a 0-40 in the fifth game before squaring the contest at one set all.
Murray, seeded second, destroyed Nadal in the third set conceding only four points to the Spaniard.
With the win, which brought him 295,000, Murray improved his record against Nadal to five wins against 13 defeats. It was his first win over Nadal since August last year at Toronto.
It was Murray’s fourth title of the season, following victories in London, Cincinnati and Bangkok.
It was also the 20th title during his career.