Murray Wins Brisbane International

Andy Murray enjoyed the perfect preparation for the Australian Open with a comfortable victory over Ukraine's Alexandr Dolgopolov in the Brisbane International final.

In his final event before the year's first Grand Slam, Murray dominated from the off to beat the third seed 6-1 6-3.

He won nine straight games from 1-1 in the first set and, although Dolgopolov rallied, easily wrapped up the title.

"I'd like to say sorry to Alex; he had a problem with his leg," Murray said.

"It's my first week with this new team and it was good. Mr Lendl - he's up there somewhere, hiding," he added of new coach Ivan Lendl.

"I really enjoyed it. Hopefully it'll bring more success in the future."

The one slight concern for the world number four and his new coach will be a drop in concentration in the second set which allowed Dolgopolov to fight back from 4-0 to 4-3.

But the positives will far outweigh any negatives as they begin final preparations for the Australian Open, which begins in Melbourne on 16 January.

Murray, twice a finalist in the season's first major, including last year's straight sets defeat by Novak Djokovic, set the tone against Dolgopolov with a comfortable first service game that finished with an ace.

Although Dolgopolov levelled to get his first ATP Tour hardcourt final off to a positive start, that was at good as it got for the Ukrainian as Murray then reeled off nine consecutive games with a mixture of solid serving and attacking returns to move to within two games of the title.

Dolgopolov, who lost to Murray in the Australian Open quarter-finals in 2011, finally held serve for the first time in five attempts to avoid a second-set whitewash and then shocked Murray by claiming one of the breaks back with a fierce forehand on game point.

However, a solid hold by Murray in his next service game quickly quelled any thoughts of an unlikely turnaround and the 24-year-old then broke serve once more to win a 22nd career title.

Dolgopolov, hampered by a groin injury sustained in his semi-final win over second seed Gilles Simon, said: "I'd like to say sorry for some boring tennis from me today, but that's the best I could do."

Murray, the only British male guaranteed a place in the Australian Open main draw, will learn his first-round opponent when the draw is made on Friday 13 January.

And he said that Lendl's experience in winning a Grand Slam final at the fifth attempt could help him break his own run of losing in his first three appearances in major finals.

"He knows the feeling of playing a Grand Slam final, the nerves, he understands all that stuff," Murray told BBC Radio 5 live's Sportsweek.

"We've spoken about working hard and focussing on the process and not worrying about past results or things that have happened in the past.

"He's going to help with all sorts of things and hopefully come the Australian Open I'll be playing great tennis but we will have only been working together for 10 days. I'll have to spend a lot more time with him before we can make any changes to my game."

World number six Jo-Wilfried Tsonga overcame fellow FrenchmanGael Monfils 7-5 6-3 in the Qatar Open final to claim his eighth ATP Tour title.

World number 15 Monfils beat top seed Rafael Nadal in his semi-final while Tsonga received a bye when Roger Federer withdrew because of a back injury.

That advantage ultimately told in the final, although Tsonga started sluggishly before rallying from 5-3 down in the first set as he claimed nine of the next 11 games against a fading opponent.

Tsonga said: "I have reached the [Australian Open] final already in 2008 so maybe I can win there. I will leave this tournament with a lot of confidence."

Kaia Kanepi Powers to Victory

In an incredible display of power, unseeded Estonian Kaia Kanepi has claimed her second career WTA title by derailing Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova in straight sets in the tournament’s second consecutive unseeded women’s final.

It could’ve been a first-round meeting if the draw had worked differently, but Kanepi looked a convincing champion, displaying her booming serve and powerful backhand down the line to overpower Hantuchova 6-2 6-1 in one hour and 14 minutes without giving away a single break point.

On her way to the final, Kanepi took out seventh seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, second seed Andrea Petkovic, third seed Francesca Schiavone and now Hantuchova all in convincing straight-sets wins to be handed the Evonne Goolagong-Cawley trophy by its namesake—and you could barely wipe the smile off her face.

“It feels fantastic; I’m so happy. I couldn’t stop smiling after the match for a long time,” Kanepi said.

“I think I haven’t really realised what I have done and how I have played and who I have beaten and then what score. I enjoyed a lot the feeling that I have and to win such a big tournament like this.”

In uncanny resemblance to last year’s big-hitting champion Petra Kvitova, who was also ranked world no.34 at the time with one title under her belt, Kanepi hopes to mimic the success of her predecessor this year—Kvitova finished 2011 as world No.2 and Wimbledon champion.

“Well if I’m playing like this I think I can,” she laughed. “I have to win and play consistent. We will see at the end of the year if I did the same thing or no.”

“I think it doesn’t happen too often in some tournaments that I won the matches with the score I did, so it just was my week and I played really well and I hope to continue and improve, but I have to be ready because the history has shown that nothing comes easy for me, so I have to continue working hard.”

Hantuchova barely put a foot wrong tonight, but she said there wasn’t much she could do to stop the Kanepi firepower, rating the Estonian as a top 10 player if she can keep up the outstanding form she displayed this week.

“I felt like I played a great match from the start until the end. [She] didn’t give me too many chances. I tried to find a way, but it just didn’t work today. She was better in all the departments of the game and really deserved to win,” Hantuchova said.

“If she can do this week in week out she’ll be in the top 10 very soon, but it’s a matter of whether she’s going to be able to do that or not. But she’s got a big game, great serve—one of the best on the tour I think at the moment—and also moving very well, so it was a tough match for me.”

With barely a seat spare at Pat Rafter Arena, Hantuchova—who hadn’t won a set since her second-round match after Serena Williams withdrew and Kim Clijsters retired from their semifinal on Friday—looked focused and fresh as she put away a clinical first service game.

Despite a few shaky points from Kanepi, she managed to hold her nerve in her opening service games, but the strong Estonian hit her straps at 2-2, unleashing her third backhand down the line winner to break the Hantuchova serve with a fist pump to her Estonian fans.

Full of confidence, Kanepi started unloading from the baseline with incredible racquet-head speed that saw her again break the Slovakian’s serve with a backhand winner down the line for a 5-2 lead.

After calling her coach to keep her nerves in check, Kanepi served out the 6-2 opening set before kicking off the second by breaking Hantuchova’s serve to love.

Hantuchova had called her coach after the opening set, but she could do little to stop the flow of winners from the Kanepi racquet as she powered to a quick 4-0 lead.

“I mean when she’s on like this it’s really hard to do anything. She’s been playing like this the whole week and when she puts it all together she’s a very dangerous player,” Hantuchova said.

With Hantuchova serving to stay in the match at 5-1, the game seemed to go on forever with entertaining tennis as both players were forced from corner to corner around the court. But, on her fourth championship point, Kanepi finally closed out the match and the championship 6-2 6-1.

Kanepi broke into a smile when reminded she hasn’t faced a break point in her past two matches, saying the hard work has finally paid off for both her and her coach.

“I think a year ago my coach said, well I wasn’t serving that well, and then he said ‘I don’t know what to do but in half a year you must serve like top 10’,” she said.

“So we have been working very hard with the serve and technique and everything and I think the work we’ve done a year ago is paying off right now, it doesn’t pay off right next day, so I think that’s why I’m serving well.”

As the highest ranked Estonian, the pressure of performing has finally lifted for Kanepi, saying they must be satisfied after such an impressive performance this week.

“Previous years I’ve had such a pressure to play well and to reach high in the rankings and so it’s not tough for me also but for my team to feel that kind of pressure at home,” she said.

“I don’t feel any more pressure. I think Estonians have seen that I can play very well and I have beaten high players, so hopefully they are satisfied,” she laughed.

Murray Bests Baghdatis

Top seed Andy Murray was at his ruthless best as he cruised to a 6-2 6-2 victory over doubles partner Marcos Baghdatis in the quarter-finals of the ATP Brisbane International.

The British No.1 had been knocked out of the doubles competition with the Cypriot on Thursday, but he made amends as he powered into the last-four.

Looking full of confidence, Murray raced into a 4-0 lead which he never looked in danger of relinquishing.

Baghdatis proved a trickier proposition at the start of the second set but when Murray clinched the first break in game five it was only a matter of time.

The world No.4 had made sluggish starts in his opening two rounds, losing the first sets against both Mikhail Kukushkin and Gilles Muller, but he looked sharp from the outset on Pat Rafter Arena.

His powerful forehands troubled the 2006 Australian Open runner-up from the off, a Baghdatis double fault handing Murray the opening game before the Scot clinched a second break to love in game three.

Advantage

Baghdatis got on the board by holding serve at the third time of asking, but never looked like threatening the Murray serve as the Briton held firm to win the opening set.

The start of the second set was a much tighter affair than the first, Baghdatis holding his opening two games and forcing a break point in game four which Murray saved thanks to his serve-and-volley tactics.

Murray made his rival pay for that missed opportunity by securing a break of his own in the next game, and consolidated that advantage by holding serve - saving another break point - to go 4-2 up.

Another break followed as crowd favourite Baghdatis ran out of steam, Murray completing an impressive win with minimum fuss.

Next up for the Scot will be a semi-final meeting with Australian eighth seed Bernard Tomic, who needed little over 79 minutes to beat Dennis Istomin 6-3 7-6 (7/4).

Second and third seeds Gilles Simon and Alexandr Dolgopolov claimed their places in the last four on Thursday.

Muller Gives Murray Brizzy Work

Andy Murray came through another tough test at the Brisbane International as he fought back from losing the first set to beat Gilles Muller.

The world number four won their second-round match 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-0 to clinch a quarter-final with Marcos Baghdatis.

Murray struggled in his first-round win over Mikhail Kukushkin and world number 54 Muller also proved challenging.

New coach Ivan Lendl will join him this week as Murray gears up for the Australian Open.

The Scot, 24, lost the first set after being broken in the final game by Muller.

The pair traded breaks at the start of the second set and, after enduring some nervous moments to hold his serve, Murray won the tie-break in convincing fashion.

Murray then broke Muller three times as he cruised through the third set and into round three.

But with the contest lasting two hours it was another testing workout for Murray, who was playing only his second match of 2012.

"I felt I moved better in the second and third sets and that's such a big part of my game," said Murray.

"I was happy to get the win - the more matches I can get this week, the better. I thought once I got into the baseline rallies I felt good but he served very well, especially for the first couple of sets and I just managed to hang in."

The Brisbane International is Murray's first tournament since he withdrew from the ATP World Tour Finals in London in November with a groin strain.

He was also troubled by back and knee problems on the way to his round one win over Kazakhstan's Kukushkin.