Agence France Presse

Montreal, August 17

Andy Murray has seized the momentum a fortnight before the US Open, the Scot exploding into form with his fifth title of the season at the Montreal Masters.

Besides starting the week with a freshly minted world No 2 ranking, the only British man to ever lift a trophy in Canada will surely be wired for his title defence at the Cincinnati Masters. Murray celebrated his ascent to the second spot, sandwiched in between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, by fighting back to overhaul Juan Martin Del Potro 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (7/3), 6-1.

His fifth title of the year pulled him level with Nadal for most in 2009. While victories mean the world to him, there is no denying that Murray is pondering the important marker he passed by moving to his best-ever ranking.

Del Potro, winner a week ago in Washington, looked strong to start, but needed treatment on a shoulder problem in the second set and took an off-court injury time out to start the third before fading. Murray lost a 62-minute opening set, but levelled by winning the tiebreaker in the second, then dominated the third.

Cincinnati Open

CINCINNATI: Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic boosted her US Open hopes with a brisk 6-4, 6-2 victory over world No 1 Dinara Safina in the final of the Cincinnati Open on Sunday.

Jankovic bounced back from a tough semi-final victory on Saturday night to claim her second title of 2009, after a victory in a claycourt tournament in Marbella in April. “When I woke up this morning I felt really sore, especially after going to sleep at 2 am,” said Jankovic, who needed almost three hours to overcome Elena Dementieva in the semi-finals — a match in which Jankovic trailed 6-2 in the third-set tiebreaker.

But she showed no sign of weariness as she had just nine unforced errors in pocketing the first set over struggling Safina. Jankovic got a scare in the second set when she landed awkwardly on her left leg. She received treatment on her thigh and didn’t seem to be slowed as she finished off a victory that was especially sweet in light of her struggles this season.

Jankovic claimed the world No 1 spot last August, but couldn’t break through for a Grand Slam victory. Hoping to improve her fortunes in the majors she changed her training regime, putting on 15 pounds in a bid to beef up her game. Instead, she just felt slow.