Murray wins first title of year in Dubai

Reuters: World number one Andy Murray won his first title of 2017 with a 6-3 6-2 victory over unseeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco in the Dubai Tennis Championships final on Saturday.

Murray lost his first two service games of the match but overcame that poor start to win in Dubai for the first time.

“Obviously I’m very happy to do it here for the first time. It’s been a good start to the year,” Murray told the BBC.

“Often when you get through matches like that (quarter-final against Philipp Kohlschreiber when I saved seven match points) it settles you down for the rest of the tournament.

“It’s been quite a few late finishes this week. Maybe the last couple of matches, I didn’t start as well as I would like. It’s been the same for all the players, a bit tricky with the rain. Once I got going today, I was moving well and I finished strong.

“This year has given me great momentum.”

Murray, who had won 12 of his past 13 matches against the Spaniard, started slowly and was broken in the first game before breaking back in what was a nervous start by both players.

The heavy-hitting Verdasco cracked a series of powerful winners to break an uncomfortable-looking Murray again in the third game and consolidated to hold for a 3-1 lead.

Despite a shaky serving performance, Murray, helped by a string of Verdasco errors, reeled off five successive games to take the first set 6-3.

Murray continued in the same vein in the second set and slowly began to dictate from the baseline on the back of an improved serve to open up a 3-1 lead which he did not relinquish.

The three-times grand slam winner, who cut a frustrated figure throughout an uncharacteristically sloppy performance, sealed victory with a powerful serve to claim his 45th career title.

Barty beats Hibino to win Malaysian Open

Reuters: Australian qualifier Ashleigh Barty breezed past Japan’s Nao Hibino 6-3 6-2 in a rain-hit Malaysian Open final to win her first WTA singles title in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday and break into the world’s top 100 for the first time.

The 20-year-old Barty, who returned to tennis this year after taking time out to play cricket, served seven aces during the match, which was halted for more than an hour in the first set due to rain.

Barty showed her mental tenacity against world number 106 Hibino and kept her momentum rolling into the second set to wrap up the match in an hour and 13 minutes.

Defending champion and top seed Elina Svitolina withdrew from the tournament with a leg injury on Wednesday.

Nadal has no answer to Querrey power in Acapulco final

Reuters: American Sam Querrey claimed the biggest title of his career with an emphatic 6-3 7-6(3) upset victory over second seed Rafa Nadal in the final of the Mexican Open last week.

The unseeded world number 40 belied his ranking to overpower Nadal, blowing away his Spanish opponent for a first victory in five career meetings with the Spaniard.

Nadal, beaten by Roger Federer in a classic Australian Open final in January, was seeking his 70th career victory, and his third in Acapulco, though his first since the event moved from clay to hardcourt in 2014.

But after storming to the final without dropping a set, Nadal had no answer to the tall 29-year-old from California, who thumped down 19 aces and ripped a series of thundering groundstroke winners.

Querrey tore through the opening set without facing a break point in 29 minutes, seizing Nadal’s serve to love in the eighth game with a crosscourt backhand winner.

Nadal fought back in the second set, roared on a supportive crowd, but failed to convert any of his six break point opportunities.

Querrey pounced in the tiebreak to dispatch the 14-times major champion.