Andy Murray smashes his racket again as a dismal tour of China ends with a third defeat in a row

Andy Murray continued his racketeering antics in Beijing with a similar bombing in Shanghai. Photo: Frey/TPN/Getty Images

Another tennis racket felt the force of Andy Murray's discontent on Wednesday as Britain's greatest player ended his visit to China with a third defeat in a row.

The latest setback came against the man one spot behind him in the rankings: world No. 41 Roman Safiullin of Russia. In the run-up to the match, everything indicated that it would be a tough fight. However, on this occasion, Safiullin was hardly inconvenienced when he was crushed 6-3, 6-2 at the Shanghai Masters.

Murray never reached the level of white-hot fury that we saw during his three matches. -a straight set loss to Alex de Minaur in Beijing last week. This was especially painful given that he had three match points against De Minaur, as well as a 5-2 lead in the deciding set.

It was a different story in Shanghai against the rapidly gaining popularity of Safiullin. Murray lost his first serve in both sets and always clawed his way out of there. Not for the first time this year, he was bullied on the court by a man with great ambition and a lot of weight in his shots.

The disappointment became too much for Murray when he hit a direct volley into the net and lost the penultimate game . Returning to the bench for a 90-second substitution, he smashed his racket, but left without breaking the code as there was no delay of the match.

He then came out to serve the final game, but was unable to prevent Safiullin from sealing the victory with a late, poisonous forehand winner. The match data demonstrates how decisively Murray lost the power battle. He hit only 10 game-winners to Safiullin's 34, his groundstroke average was about four miles per hour lower, and his shots were hit a meter further from the court.

This match ends Murray's outdoor season air and leaves him with the advantage of a 50 percent record on the ATP Tour: 15 wins and 15 losses. His next commitment will be an indoor event in Tokyo, starting in less than two weeks, before he returns to Europe for Basel and the Paris Masters.

The problem remains, however, that he is being pushed too many players. He is still stubborn, persistent and cunning. But since finishing the season on grass, where slippery conditions give his groundstrokes extra penetration, he has found it difficult to break through opponents.