Sharapova and Murray score double haul for HEAD

Andy Murray tagged fellow HEAD racquet rebel Novak Djokovic with only his second loss from 59 matches this season, with the Scot winning a second Cincinnati Masters 1000 title in three years with his YouTek Radical Pro. Murray, the 2008 Cincinnati champion, claimed the trophy leading 6-4, 3-0, when Djokovic's sore shoulder forced him to retire after 71 minutes. Moments later, the sky erupted in a rainstorm which wiped out the presentation of the trophy.

Andy Murray lifted his career mark against Djokovic to 4-6. "It was really a good week after I struggled last week. It was unfortunate the way it ended, but I thought the first set, after the first couple of games was a good standard. A lot of long rallies, good points - it's been good preparation for New York. The plan is to be feeling perfect going into the Grand Slams. That has really been my goal this year, and I have done a good job at it so far."

Djokovic, winner of nine titles this season and a record five Masters 1000 shields in 2011 with his YouTek IG Speed MP will now need to rush to heal the shoulder which he said has bothered him for more than a week as the pain increased. "I just could not serve. I had an average of 90 miles per hour for the first serve. I really tried but it didn't make sense for me to continue. The good thing is that there is a week, eight days to the start of the US Open. So I think that's enough time for me to get ready.”

Murray claimed his second trophy of the season following Queen‘s club, London, in June. The Scot’s win was his seventh Masters 1000 title. He improved to 18-9 in finals.

The title feat was duplicate on the women's side by Maria Sharapova, who picked up her second title of the season with a comeback defeat of Serb Jelena Jankovic 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-3 using the YouTek IG Instinct MP. The Russian won her last title at Rome three months ago and goes into the US Open riding a wave of confidence.

"It's been a great year so far, I'm definitely proud that I've gone further and better than I did last year”, said the winner. “It's great to have a win under your belt going into a major - absolutely. I came here wanting to play matches and wanting to raise my level, and I think I did that."