Red-hot Murray retains Shanghai crown

Shanghai, China – Andy Murray won his third title in as many weeks in Asia on Sunday.

The second-seeded Scot retained his crown at the Shanghai Masters with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over third-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer.

With the win -- his 15th straight -- Murray will overtake Roger Federer as the third-ranked player in the world. Federer had been among the Top 3 since July 7, 2003, when he won his first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon.

Murray has now won 25 of his past 26 matches overall, the lone setback coming against Rafael Nadal in the semifinals at the U.S. Open. Murray beat Nadal for the Tokyo title last week after winning the event in Thailand.

The 24-year-old Murray, who earned $620,000 with Sunday's triumph, improved to 21-9 all-time in finals, including 5-1 this year. He also won at the Queen's Club and the Cincinnati Masters with his lone loss in a championship coming at the Australian Open.

Ferrer was gunning for his third title of the year and fell to 3-5 lifetime against Murray.