Andy Murray’s heroic week in Doha came to a disappointing end on Saturday afternoon as the Brit was denied the chance to win his first title in four years, losing to Daniil Medvedev 6-4 6-4 in the final. The world No 8 was able to lift his second trophy in as many weeks by denying Murray. The Russian also extended his winning streak to nine matches, needing just an hour and 46 minutes to defeat the two-time former Qatar Open champion.
Murray and Medvedev were battling for the third time, with the third seed on an eight-match winning streak after lifting the title in Rotterdam last week. The Brit was coming off the back of yet another extraordinary three-set match after saving five match points against Jiri Lehecka in the semi-finals and was looking to win his first title since 2019.
The world No 70 immediately went 0-40 down in the first game, giving away the break after clawing his way back to deuce. He was able to set up two break points on the Medvedev serve at 1-2 but couldn’t convert them and gave away a second break though he responded immediately and got one straight back.
Momentum appeared to shift as the 27-year-old found himself facing another break point after being 40-15 up but he held on to lead 5-3 and put himself within a game of the opening set. Medvedev avoided a wobble and closed out the first set 6-4 in 54 minutes, and he was quick to impose himself on Murray’s serve early in the second, breaking immediately to put himself even closer to a 17th career title as the Brit could be seen chuntering towards his box.
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The world No 8 found himself in some trouble as he blew one match point but he managed to avoid the fate of Murray’s other opponents this week and closed out a 6-4 6-4 victory in what was the 35-year-old’s first straight-set match of the tournament, denying the former world No 1 the chance to win his first title since October 2019. It marks Medvedev’s 17th career title and comes just six days after he won his sweet 16th in Rotterdam.
The 35-year-old enjoyed an astonishing week which saw him save nine match points – three in his opening round, five in the semi-final and one in the final. He also came back from a set down against sixth seed Alexander Zverev and qualifier Alexandre Muller during his run, having also trailed by a break in the final set of both matches. Like Medvedev, Murray will be in action at next week’s Dubai Championships, where he faces fifth seed Hubert Hurkacz in the first round.