The relationship between forehands and backhands is very much like a sword and a shield. Generally, you attack with the forehand (sword) and defend with the backhand (shield), all the time looking to battle from more superior court positioning than your opponent.

Andy Murray defeated Roberto Bautista Agut 7-6(1), 6-1 in the final of the Shanghai Rolex Masters by showcasing one of the most impenetrable shields in the sport. Bautista Agut constantly tested the Murray backhand with his own run-around forehand, but time and time again it was not a big enough weapon to inflict any damage.

Bautista Agut’s Spanish style of play relies heavily on run-around forehands in the Ad Court, rifling them back cross court to his right-handed opponent’s backhand, and then looking to open a hole in the vacant deuce court later in the point.

The problem for Bautista Agut is that strategy will work just fine against almost everyone else in the world except Murray, because of the quality of his shield.

With the first set even at 5-5, Murray would win 19 of the next 21 points to dominate the tie-break and surge to a 2-0 lead in the second set. During that period, Bautista Agut hammered away at the Murray backhand, making the Brit hit 37 backhands, and just 28 forehands.

The problem for Bautista Agut is that Murray made 35 backhands in a row before finally committing an error, which contributed to the World No. 2 being broken for 2-1. From 5-5 in the first set to the end of the match, Murray hit 63 backhands, and only committed three errors. Quite simply, the Bautista Agut strategy was constantly faced with the proverbial brick wall when trying to enforce his favourite patterns of play that got him to his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final.

Murray hit 60 per cent backhand groundstrokes (excluding returns and volleys), and 40 per cent forehands for the match, which was forced upon him by the Spaniard’s preferred baseline strategy. His backhands committed only 12 errors in 86 shots – or around an error every seven backhands. Murray’s forehand groundstroke, meanwhile, committed 10 errors form 65 shots, which is an error every six-and-a-half forehands.

In the first set, a part of Murray’s strategy was to counter Bautista Agut’s run-around forehand with run-around forehands of his own. In that opening frame, Murray hit 42 per cent of his forehands as a run-around in the Ad court (27 from the Ad Court / 38 from the Deuce Court), but from 5-5, Murray altered his strategy to only hit three run-around forehands in the last two games and the tie-break, while hitting 20 backhands. In the second set, Murray hit 76 per cent of his forehands (31) in the Deuce court, with just 10 being run-around. Basically, the Brit kept it simple, and relied on his trusty shield a lot more.

While the match had many bruising baseline exchanges, Murray created the majority of his separation in the shorter points. He won the rallies in the 0-4 shot range by 14 points (37-23), created a nine-point advantage in the 5-9 shot range (20-11), and narrowly edged the Spaniard in the longer rallies of 9+ shots, 13-12.

Overall, Murray ran less (1623m to 1779m), committed less unforced errors (19-25), and converted every break point he created (4/4). As he ran away with the match in the second set, he made 41 of 44 backhands, offering no point of attack for Bautista Agut’s probing Ad Court baseline tactics.

The main problem for Bautista Agut is that he was having to adapt and modify his style against Murray, rather than the other way around. That’s a hidden benefit for the World No. 2 in having one of the best shields in our game.

If a player from Argentina is competing on clay in an ATP Challenger Tour event, they’re a likely candidate to be the last man standing.

Argentina has been the most dominant country when it comes to winning Challenger titles in 2016. Nine players have won a combined 15 singles titles this year, already up from 14 in 2015. Facundo Bagnis has a tour-leading five Challenger titles, followed by Guido Andreozzi (2), Horacio Zeballos (2), Nicolas Kicker, Carlos Berlocq, Leonardo Mayer, Agustin Velotti, Diego Schwartzman and Renzo Olivo. Six of these Challenger wins have come over the past two months.

That number is also guaranteed to increase on Sunday, with the $50,000 Challenger in Buenos Aires fittingly featuring an all-Argentine final between Olivo and Mayer.

“We have a lot of players at a very good level between No. 100 and No. 200 [in the Emirates ATP Rankings],” said Olivo. “Not everyone is playing Masters 1000 Series events, but it’s a level where there are a lot of us pushing each other in that direction.”

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With 15 Argentines ranked inside the Top 200 of the Emirates ATP Rankings, it’s common to see a brigade of players from the country competing at Challenger events and making deep runs in the draw. This is particularly true at clay-court events, which is the surface of choice among most Argentine players.

“In Buenos Aires, there are two clay courts for every hard court,” said Andreozzi. “We generally don’t practise on hard courts unless it’s to prepare for a specific tournament. We’re more accustomed to clay and our style is better suited to the surface.”

Luckily for this group of players, there are five consecutive weeks of South American clay-court Challengers ahead on the schedule. But beyond surface preference, Kicker said the reason Argentines have enjoyed so much success is due to their resilience that has helped them through plenty of tough matches.

“We live far from Europe and the United States, so we spend two months at a time away from home. It’s not always easy for us, so we are known for being fighters,” said Kicker. “When we’re on the court, we give everything that we have.”

John Isner and Jack Sock capped off the best week of their short-lived doubles team career by winning one of the game’s biggest titles on Sunday at the Shanghai Rolex Masters.

The American duo won their first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 team crown, defeating Henri Kontinen and John Peers 6-4, 6-4 in 62 minutes. Isner/Sock dominated with their serves, as they have all tournament long in the Chinese city. They won 78 per cent of their service points (40/51) and never faced a break point.

Returning serve, Isner/Sock were opportunistic. An Isner overhead handed them their first break for a 3-2 lead in the first set. They converted their second service break for a 4-3 advantage in the second set when an Isner forehand was too much for Kontinen to handle at the net.

The victory gives Sock his second ATP World Tour Masters 1000 doubles crown and his seventh overall ATP World Tour doubles title. He and Canadian Vasek Pospisil took the BNP Paribas Open title last season at Indian Wells. Sock had been 0-3 in doubles finals this season. The 24 year old is the only player ranked in the Top 25 of both Emirates ATP Rankings – No. 25 in singles, No. 23 in doubles.

Isner hadn’t played in a doubles final since the 2012 BNP Paribas Open. His last doubles title came when he was playing with compatriot Sam Querrey in 2011 at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Rome. The 6’10” Isner has now won four ATP World Tour doubles titles. The champions will split 1,000 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings points and $323,100.

Kontinen/Peers were looking to further bolster their place in the Emirates ATP Doubles Race To London by winning their fourth title of the season. The Finnish/Australian pairing are currently in seventh place, 245 points ahead of eighth-placed Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi. The top eight doubles teams at the end of the season will qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, to be held 13-20 Nov. at The O2 in London.

Kontinen/Peers had been 3-0 in ATP World Tour doubles finals this season, snagging trophies in Brisbane, Munich and Hamburg. They will receive 600 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings points and $158,190.

Despite retiring seven years ago, Guillermo Coria is still in peak physical shape. Watching him walk, there’s little difference between the 34-year-old Coria today and the 18-year-old teenager who won four consecutives Challenger titles to make his debut inside the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings in November 2000.

The former World No. 3 still vividly remembers winning the ATP Challenger Tour title that month in his hometown of Buenos Aires. Facing former World No. 8 Alberto Berasategui in the final, Coria delighted the local crowd by prevailing in a deciding set. He said the match, and in his time overall in Challengers, was pivotal in setting him up for the outstanding ATP World Tour career he went on to have.

“I owe everything to Challengers. Having a circuit of Challenger tournaments in South America was so fundamental for me,” said Coria, speaking from this week’s $50,000 event in Buenos Aires. “Alberto had so much experience, but I had the whole crowd on my side. Winning a tournament at home against a player at that level gives you so much motivation for what can happen next. When I played the final of the Argentina Open against Carlos Moya, I was ready because the Challenger there had given me experience in handling that type of pressure.”

Coria made an appearance this Thursday at the Challenger in Buenos Aires to give a kids’ clinic and observe some of the rising stars in South American tennis. From his own experience, both the tournament venues in Buenos Aires and the city itself have all the ingredients to spur on the best tennis from players.

“The stadium was always full. Even as a Challenger, it always felt like an ATP World Tour event,” said Coria. “Having those experiences gives you a lot of confidence and helps you grow as a player.”

The 34-year-old Coria is confident that the growing brigade of Argentine players in Challengers will also continue to benefit from those experiences. Argentina has produced nine Challenger winners this year that have combined to win 15 singles titles.

“It’s very impressive, but I think this trend will continue and having Argentina in the Davis Cup final this year will only help that further,” said Coria. “Argentine tennis is very strong now and these group of players deserve it. They haven’t been handed anything and have had to fight for it all.”