Andy Murray suffers first-round defeat at Shanghai Masters as Jannik Sinner wins China Open title

Andy Murray suffered another first round defeat as he was defeated by Roman Safiullin 6-3 6-2 at the Shanghai Masters as Jannik Sinner claimed the China Open title.

Murray, who was handed an early exit from the China Open by Alex De Minaur, lost his opening game and then missed opportunities to break back quickly as Safiullin moved into a 2-0 lead.

It was the Russian who then took the next opportunity to break, taking the first set 6-3.

Murray appeared to regroup for the second set, but Safiullin – back in action for the first time since reaching the final of the Chengdu Open – remained ahead.

Another early break put the Russian 2-0 up and although Murray, who has won the tournament in Shanghai three times, broke back quickly, he then failed to hold serve to give Safiullin a 3-1 lead .

Murray continued to cut a frustrated figure and swore when another marginal line call went against him in the seventh game.

It seemed only a matter of time before Safiullin would seal the victory, and he had a first match point opportunity when Murray sent a routine forehand return into the net.

Because Murray had moved onto the court after his serve, Safiullin sent a deep return, which was called out, but a review showed that the ball had just fallen on the back edge of the baseline.

In the next round, Safiullin will play Alexander Zverev again after the German world number 10 defeated him over three sets in the final of the Chengdu Open last month.

Sinner beats Medvedev and wins in Beijing

Sinner produced a determined performance to clinch his third title of the year and ninth overall with a 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-2) victory over second seed Daniil Medvedev in the final of the China Open.

The Italian came into the match having lost to Medvedev in the previous six meetings, including two earlier this season in the finals of Rotterdam and Miami, but the Italian kept pace with his opponent and sealed the first set via a tie-break .

Both players took brutal blows from the baseline and raced through their service games in the next set, before 22-year-old Sinner raised his level again in the tiebreak to record a memorable win in Beijing.

“It means a lot,” Sinner said of his victory, which followed a victory over Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinals. “A lot of work.

“I felt like I was prepared for this match today. I’ve lost against him many times. It feels great, especially when you beat a player you’ve never won against and this was a positive week.

“I had to overcome some tough challenges and I’m very proud of myself, how I handled the situations. It was great.”

Sinner will become the second Italian in ATP rankings history (since 1973) to break into the top five when the latest list is released and will match Adriano Panatta’s ranking of four, which was achieved in August 1976.

Meanwhile, Great Britain’s Neal Skupski and Dutch partner Wesley Koolhof were defeated in the men’s doubles final, with a 6-7 (12-14) 6-3 10-5 defeat to Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek.

Stream all your favorite sports and more with NOW for £21 per month for six months