Medvedev beats Murray to clinch title in Doha

Medvedev took an hour and 46 minutes to beat Murray 6-4, 6-4 in a battle of former World No.1s and Grand Slam champions.

Russia’s Daniel Medvedev holds the winner’s trophy after beating Great Britain’s Andy Murray in the Qatar Open final in Doha on Saturday.

Daniil Medvedev won his second title in as many weeks with a straight sets victory over Andy Murray in the Qatar Open final in Doha on Saturday.

The Russian, who clinched the title in Rotterdam last week, took an hour and 46 minutes to beat the 35-year-old Briton 6-4, 6-4 in a battle of former World No.1s and Grand Slam champions.

The 2021 US Open champion Medvedev won his ninth match in a row and took his tally of tour-level titles to 17.

Three-time Grand Slam champion Murray, who was awarded a main draw wildcard, had reached his first tour-level final since Stuttgart last year after saving match points in the first round against Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego, outlasting fourth-seeded German Alexander Zverev and French qualifier Alexandre Muller in three sets before coming back from match points down to beat Czech Republic’s Jiri Lehecka in the semifinal.

In the final, Medvedev 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 was bidding for his 47th career title but first since 2019, also fell behind in the second set but hit back with a break of serve. He had the momentum at 4-4 (40-0) but Medvedev suddenly rediscovered his brick wall-like resilience to reel off five successive points, sealing a crucial service break as Murray over-cooked a volley.

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 number eight Medvedev said on court. “Today was a big fight. Sometimes we were both playing bad, sometimes we both played well.”

For Murray, 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.