Two trophies in two weeks for Medvedev as Murray magic runs out
Daniil Medvedev ended Andy Murray’s dreams of another tour title in Qatar
Daniil Medvedev won his second trophy in as many weeks as he beat Andy Murray 6-4, 6-4 to win the title in Qatar.
It means he is now on a nine-match winning streak having picked up his 17th tour-level title.
Medvedev underlined his mastery on hard courts – 16 of his titles have come on that surface.
Medvedev has still not dropped a set against Murray, but this match was certainly the closest of their three so far; the Russian got the win in Miami last year 6-4, 6-2, and in Brisbane in 2019, 7-5, 6-2.
Murray: Medvedev is one of the best players on tour
It was a challenge too far for Murray, who saved eight match points en route to the final (three against Lorenzo Sonego in the first round, five against Jiri Lehecka in the semi-final).
Indeed, the newly-crowned champion made a deft nod to Murray’s tenacious displays, saying in his post-match speech that he thought: “I have a match point against Andy! That’s not a good sign!”
Murray had nice words for him as well, reflecting: “It was an incredible week, obviously didn’t finish how I wanted, but I had some amazing matches here, created some great memories, and it’s fantastic to be in a final here again against an incredible player – Daniil is one of my favourite players to watch and one of the best players on the tour.”
The 35-year-old was playing in his fifth Doha final – the most in tournament history – and aiming for his third title there.