Tennis

Daniil Medvedev downs Andy Murray to claim Doha title

Reuters

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

Daniil Medvedev downs Andy Murray to claim Doha title

NEW TROPHY. Daniil Medvedev adds another title to his collection.

Ibraheem Al Omari/REUTERS

Daniil Medvedev captures back-to-back ATP titles in successive weeks by beating Andy Murray in a battle of former world No. 1s

Daniil Medvedev maintained his winning roll to beat Andy Murray in the Qatar Open final and claim his second title in successive weeks on Saturday, February 25 (Sunday, February 26, Manila time).

Veteran Murray, bidding for his 47th career title but first since 2019, pushed the Russian hard but succumbed 6-4, 6-4 in a battle of former world No. 1s.

Medvedev also triumphed in Rotterdam last week and now has 18 Tour-level titles in his locker.

He started strongly and was immediately into his baseline rhythm to win the majority of the long exchanges, moving into a 4-1 lead with two breaks of serve.

Murray, who saved 5 match points on Friday against Jiri Lehecka to reach his 71st ATP final, also fell behind in the second set but hit back with a break of serve.

The British three-time Grand Slam champion had the momentum at 4-4 40-0 but Medvedev suddenly rediscovered his brick wall-like resilience to reel off 5 successive points, sealing a crucial service break as Murray over-cooked a volley.

Former US Open champion Medvedev double-faulted on his first match point in the following game but a superb lob completed the job when he had another opportunity soon afterwards against a weary-looking Murray.

“It was a very tough match because it was windy and we struggled for rhythm,” world No. 8 Medvedev said on court. “Today was a big fight. Sometimes we were both playing bad, sometimes we both played well.”

For Murray, 35, it was his fourth ATP final since returning to the tour after having hip surgery in 2018 and, while he has lost three of those, he remains a force to be reckoned with. – Rappler.com

Add a comment

Sort by

There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.

Summarize this article with AI

How does this make you feel?

Loading
Download the Rappler App!