Nadal hails 'unstoppable' Murray after Scot's storming Tokyo win

Thrilling victory means Briton will be world No 3 if he retains Shanghai title this week

It has been a remarkable fortnight for a man who usually struggles with jet lag in Asia. Andy Murray, who won the Thailand Open last weekend, capped a remarkable first two weeks on the Far East circuit with a stunning 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 victory over Rafael Nadal in the final of the Japan Open in Tokyo yesterday. The world No 4 went on to win the doubles title in partnership with his brother, Jamie, the Scots beating the Czech Republic's Frantisek Cermak and Slovakia's Filip Polasek 6-1, 6-4 in the final.

Murray won the 20th singles title of his career, his fourth of 2011 and his third in his last four tournaments in emphatic fashion, despite losing the first set after being broken in his opening service game. Murray broke Nadal to lead 3-1 in the second set, held on to his own serve from 0-40 down in the following game with three successive aces and never looked back thereafter.

Nadal, who had won 13 of his previous 17 meetings with Murray and all five of their encounters over the past 12 months, lost 11 of the last 12 games. The world No 2, who was the defending champion, won just four points in the final set as Murray completed victory in two hours and 16 minutes.

"I played some great tennis, especially in the third set," the 24-year-old Scot said. "There were a lot of close games towards the end of the first set and beginning of the second. I managed to get the momentum and didn't give him many chances after that. For sure in the third set it was some of the best tennis I've played against him. I was very consistent, didn't make too many mistakes and kept a cool head in the important moments."

Murray has enjoyed a wonderful run in the last two months, winning 21 of his last 22 matches and claiming the titles in Cincinnati, Bangkok and now Tokyo. Indeed, since the start of the French Open at the end of May he has lost only four matches – three to Nadal (in the semi-finals of the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open) and one to South Africa's Kevin Anderson in Montreal.

For Nadal, meanwhile, it was a seventh defeat in 10 finals this year, the Spaniard having lost to Novak Djokovic on all six other occasions. "My season has been very good," he insisted afterwards. "I don't need to recover my confidence. My confidence is there and only Djokovic is better than me [at the moment]. I will cope with this. I'm happy with what I am doing."

Nadal added: "Only a few players could have beaten Murray today. I just want to congratulate Andy because I was really impressed by his tennis. He was unstoppable."

Murray has set himself the goal of replacing Roger Federer at No 3 in the world rankings before the end of the year and will achieve his target if he successfully defends his title at this week's Shanghai Masters. The Scot has a first-round bye before playing his opening match against either Thomaz Bellucci or Dmitry Tursunov. Thereafter the seedings suggest he will meet Stanislas Wawrinka in the third round, Gilles Simon in the quarter-finals, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the semi-finals and Nadal in the final.

In going on to triumph alongside Jamie in Tokyo, Murray became the first man to win the singles and the doubles titles with his brother at the same event since Emilio Sanchez – at whose Barcelona academy Murray trained as a teenager – and his brother Javier performed the feat at Kitzbuhel 22 years ago. It was the second tour title the Murrays have won together following their victory in Valencia last year.

The win should take Jamie from his current position at No 32 in the world doubles rankings to a career-best placing some eight spots higher. Jamie won the title in Metz recently with Brazil's Andre Sa and will next play later this month in Moscow and St Petersburg with France's Julien Benneteau.

"I had a dip during the summer when I couldn't settle on a partner but I'm really pleased with how I'm finishing the year," he said. "I've been having some help recently with the mental side of the game and it's really helped. I'm feeling better on the court, much more positive. There are no mugs out here. We're playing good players all the time. The rankings tell the truth about where you are."

He added: "Even though it was a really tough match, Andy came back feeling very fresh after the Nadal match. I suppose you would after a win like that. We've played some great doubles. We did well to get through our first match, but after that we've had some really good moments."

Nadal's nadir

4: The number of points that Rafael Nadal won as Andy Murray ripped through the final set 6-0 in Tokyo