New Knight Andy has his day TENNIS
WORLD No. 1 Sir Andy Murray ended 2016 with a victory over Canada’s Milos Raonic at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship.
The 29-year-old, who was knighted in the New Year’s Honours list, beat Raonic 6-3 7-6 (8-6) to take third place at the exhibition event in Abu Dhabi.
The Scot started well, breaking Raonic in his first two service games as he took the opening set.
He led 5-3 in the second but Raonic staged a mini fightback before Murray took the tie-break.
Murray, who will seek a first Australian Open title next month after having previously finished runner-up five times, said: “It was good to finish the year with a win. It was a good match to work on returns as Milos has a strong serve.
“There are still a few things I could do better but it was good to get matches against good players, so it has been a very productive couple of days.
“It sounds strange to be known as Sir Andy. I am more than happy being known as Andy, but it is a big honour and great recognition for my results over the last few years and it is a nice way to start the new year.”
The Abu Dhabi event was won for the fourth time by Spain’s Rafael Nadal as he ended an injury-plagued 2016 on a high.
Nadal, 30, defeated 11th-ranked Belgian David Goffin 6-4 7-6 (7-5).
In Friday’s semi-finals, Murray had lost to Goffin for the first time in six meetings.
LAURA ROBSON was beaten in the first round of qualifying for the ASB Classic in Auckland, losing in three sets to Tereza Martincova of the Czech Republic.
The Briton, now ranked 222nd in the world, lost 6-3 5-7 7-6 (10-8) to an opponent ranked 59 places above her.