Pride after a fall as Daniil serves defeat to Andy
Andy Murray declared himself proud of an “incredible week” in Doha as Daniil Medvedev stopped him capping it with a first ATP Tour title since 2019.
The Scot’s stunning run at the Qatar Open ended with a straight-sets defeat to the Russian in yesterday’s final.
The two-time Wimbledon singles champion found the encounter against the third seed a step too far, losing 6-4
6-4 in one hour and 47 minutes.
Murray, a wildcard entry into the tournament, had won all four of his previous matches at the event in three sets.
The 35-year-old, taking to the court in a record fifth final in Doha, said: “It was an incredible week. Obviously it didn’t finish how I wanted but I had some amazing matches here, created some great memories.
"It was fantastic to be back in a final here again and against an incredible player.
“Daniil is one of my favourite players to watch and one of the best players on the tour. It’s great for me to get that opportunity to play against someone of his level in a final again.
“There are definitely some things to work on. But I’m proud of my week and the work me and my team have put in to get me back to this stage.”
Murray had remarkably saved five match points in a draining semi-final against Jiri Lehecka and yet again needed to show his battling qualities.
He pulled a break back after falling 4-1 down in the first set and did so again after going 3-1 down in the second. This time, though, a comeback was beyond the three-time Grand Slam champ.
Medvedev replied with another break in the ninth game of the second set and held on to complete back-to-back tournament wins following last week’s triumph in Rotterdam.
Murray, who rose 18 spots to No.52 in the ATP live rankings, is now set to meet Pole Hubert Hurkacz in the first round at the ATP 500 event in Dubai.
A run of the quarter-finals could see a potential clash with world No.1 Novak Djokovic.
Barbora Krejcikova completed a clean sweep of the world’s top three players with victory over top-ranked
Iga Swiatek in the Dubai Tennis Championships Final.
The Czech followed up surprise wins over Jessica
Pegula and Aryna Sabalenka – world No.3 and No.2 respectively – this week with an even bigger upset as she stunned Swiatek 6-4 6-2 in 91 minutes.