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World No.1 Murray beats Verdasco to win Dubai Tennis Championship title

Xinhua, March 5, 2017 Adjust font size:

World number one Andy Murray defeated Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 6-3 6-2 Saturday evening to lift the 25th jubilee edition of the Dubai Tennis Championships trophy.

Verdasco took quickly a 3-1 lead in the first set, but a defiant Murray turned the tables and grabbed the lead at 4-3 after just 20 minutes. Murray then broke the Spaniard three times in the second set and eventually took away a check of 532,330 U.S. dollars of the hard court event and a silver trophy in the shape of the traditional Arab sailing boat "Dhow".

"There was a bit of luck involved, it was a tough match, Fernando has one of the best forehands and I found then a way to regain the upper hand," said the knighted Scotsman after winning his 45th career title.

Verdasco admitted his effort in the final was not enough to stop the British ace from winning.

"I am of course sad and disappointed after a week of such hard work." said the 33-year-old. "Andy does not have many weak points. Obviously, he is the world's number one."

Verdasco who defeated world number nine Gael Monfils in the quarter-finals on Thursday added: "I tried to dictate the match with my forehand. But then again, Andy is a strong defender."

On Thursday, Murray had to save seven match points before beating German Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-7 (7-4), 7-6 (20-18), 6-1 to reach the semifinals. The dramatic second set 20-18 tiebreak was only the sixth on ATP tour since tiebreak scores were first kept in 1991.

This led Verdasco saying: "We all know that Andy does not have just seven lives, he has 700 lives." Endit