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Montreal: Britain’s Andy Murray snapped an eight-match losing streak against top-ranked rival Novak Djokovic on Sunday to win the ATP Montreal Masters only hours after his coach Amelie Mauresmo gave birth to a baby boy.
The Scotsman, who moves to second in the ATP rankings on Monday, revealed the news from his French mentor, the only woman to coach a major men’s player.
Murray dedicated the win to Mauresmo, and said he and his team saw a picture of mother and child.
“I would imagine she’s quite tired. Probably me and my tennis are the last thing on her mind just now, which is totally understandable. But, glad she’s OK and everything went well,” Murray said.
With assistant Jonas Bjorkman watching from the player box, Murray turned in a fighting performance over three hours to finally beat Djokovic for the first time in more than two years, the first time since he won the 2013 Wimbledon final over the Serbian.
“To win this one was nice, especially the way the match went as well,” Murray said. “It would have been easy for me to let that one slip away but I fought well and stayed calm in the important moments of the third set.”
Murray and the world number one took an hour per set to settle their score in Quebec as Murray completed a Canadian title hat-trick after trophies in 2009 and 2010.
“You never like losing, but any streak comes to an end,” said Djokovic, who said he received treatment this week on a right elbow niggle which has been bothering him recently.
“I just did some tests. They were good. They were positive. I hope for the best.”
Murray now owns 11 Masters 1000 titles and 35 over all. He denied Djokovic the chance at a 25th Masters trophy.
“I lost to a better player today. I lost to Andy, who I know very well. I did fight till the last point and did try my best. That’s something that I take as a positive from this week,” Djokovic said.
“Andy deserved the win. He stepped in, played some great shots. Most of all the moments when he needed to, he served very, very well. He just came up always with big serves, so I couldn’t do much.”
Murray won his fourth title of 2015 and lifted his record on the season to 53-8.
“Novak made it extremely difficult out there,” said Murray, who needed five match points to win as the Djokovic defence came to life.
Djokovic said he hopes to carry his form into Cincinnati next week and the US Open, which starts on August 31 in New York.
“When I reflect on the week, of course it’s positive,” Djokovic said. “I’m playing better as the tournament progressed, and hopefully I can continue in the same style in Cincinnati.”
