Andy Murray's golden 2012 ground to a halt in Shanghai on Sunday as Novak Djokovic exacted revenge for his US Open final defeat by saving five match points to win the Shanghai Masters title on Sunday.
In their first meeting since Murray's win in the US Open final, Djokovic prevailed 5-7 7-6 (13-11) 6-3.
Serbian Djokovic was a set behind and 3-5 down, but fought back to force a tiebreak, which saw both players put on a world-class display of serves and passing shots.
Djokovic saved five championship points on his way to victory
During the tiebreak Murray had five championship points, but failed to convert any of them, with Djokovic eventually prevailing.
Murray was so angry with himself that he smashed his racked on the court, leaving the frame badly buckled.
A new racket didn't help, and Djokovic rarely looked troubled in the deciding third set.
After his win, Djokovic said: "Three-and-a-half hours for best of three is quite long. But I have got used to it.
"Whenever I play Andy I know it's going to be a gruelling fight, a lot of long rallies. It could have gone either way.
"I could not say I dominated the match because all three sets were very close and he had some match points and opportunities to finish the match. I could have easily been a runner-up today but I'm very proud of my fight."
Emotions were running sky high, with Djokovic at one stage also attacking his racket with three hefty smashes before tossing it towards his chair, receiving a warning for his outburst.
Murray said: "It was a disappointing one to lose but I've lost tougher matches than that before, in the biggest events, so I'm sure I'll recover from it pretty well.
"It was literally the difference of one, two centimetres [between] winning the match and losing it. You have to put things into perspective. It was obviously a bit frustrating but it was so close and could have been a different outcome.
"The third set, he played better than me. When I had my chances he served very well and hit the lines when he needed to.
"Most of our games have been tight, close matches but I feel like my game is there."