Andy Murray outserves Andy Roddick to notch first win at Masters Cup in Shanghai

The man missing from the publicity shoot hardly featured in the final set of his round-robin match yesterday, with the American winning just one game in the decider as Andy Murray came through for victory on his first appearance at the year-end showpiece. But that is not to suggest that A-Rod keeps on going AWOL.

There are explanations for both his Shanghai 'absences'. Roddick was perfectly within his rights to skip the photo-shoot, as it wasn't compulsory, and there wasn't very much that he could do about the last set against Andy Murray , with the Briton comfortably the better player towards the close of the Red Group's meeting of the Andys.

The excellent finish for Andy Murray followed what had been a frustrating period of the match for him, as he had himself managed to collect just one game in the second set. So Andy Murray did well here, especially as his legs have lost some of their explosive power after a long season, to get back to hitting the ball with poise and purpose again, to regain his hold on the match, and so achieve a 6-4, 1-6, 6-1 victory that puts him in a strong position to qualify from the group.

It was Murray's tennis that made Roddick disappear in front of more than 10,000 spectators at the Qi Zhong Stadium in Shanghai suburbia, and if he can avoid a repeat of what happened in the second set, and play like he did in the first and third, then he will have every chance of beating France's Gilles Simon on Wednesday. By the time Murray walks on court to play Roger Federer on Friday evening, he could already have one hardcourt shoe in the semi-finals. Murray, being the competitive man that he is, will want to qualify in first place from the Red Group.

"I'm tired," Murray said, but who isn't at this stage of the tennis calendar? And while competing in the Masters Cup was a new experience for Andy Murray , winning another match wasn't, as he has been beaten just four times since he went out of the quarter-finals of Wimbledon.

Roddick's game is built around the power of his 140mph-plus serves, and there are occasions during his matches when it looks as though his opponent has about as much chance of getting the ball back as a cardboard silhouette of a player; it can be shooting-range tennis with A-Rod.

But the finest part of Murray's game is his return of serve. And Andy Murray would have been helped by a surface that appeared to be a little on the slow side of medium-paced, and so would have taken a bit out of Roddick's delivery.

In fact, it was actually Murray's own serving arm that impressed the most in the early stages, with the world No 4 hitting three aces in his opening service game. And Murray needed just one break for the first set, which he achieved with a glorious swish of his racket that sent a forehand past Roddick, the 2003 US Open champion and a former world No 1, for a winner.

So Murray, after the opening set, seemed to be in command of what was his first encounter with Roddick since they played in Miami last year. But it was then that the match went one way and then the other.

The quality of Murray's serve dipped in the second set, and he was soon bouncing his racket in annoyance at the back of the court. But those waving the Saltire in the stadium needn't have worried, as Andy Murray raised his game, and soon Roddick disappeared from view.