ABU DHABI: Andy Murray fell at the final hurdle in his quest to end the year with a tournament victory afer losing the Mubadala World Tennis Championship final in straight sets to Russian Andrey Rublev.
The world No. 5 won 6-4 7-6 (7-2) to seal the title at the exhibition event in Abu Dhabi. Murray had battled back in the second set, but was unable to force a third set and lost in the tie-break.
He had beaten fellow Briton Dan Evans and 20-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal on his way to reaching the final.
Despite the defeat, the former world No. 1 remains optimistic with his progress and his tennis going into 2022.
“I have been pretty healthy over the last three months, I’ve got to play a lot of matches,” he said.
“I just need to find a way of turning some of these matches against the top players around and hopefully I can have some big runs in the biggest tournaments again, that’s my goal, I’m trying as hard as I can to do that,” he added.
Murray is scheduled to play in the Australian Open for the first time since 2018, which starts in Melbourne on Jan.
Andy Murray beats Rafa Nadal on Abu Dhabi return to set up shot at third Mubadala World Tennis Championship titleTwo-time champion Andy Murray completes line-up for Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi