Tennis News - Andy Murray starts on an optimistic note winning the Brisbane International
Last updated 1/10/2012 1:20:09 PM
Andy Murray starts on an optimistic note winning the Brisbane International
Andy Murray began the year in perfect fashion when he won his first tournament in the Brisbane International. The Scot, whose year ended with injury, had the ideal push for the Australian Open with a runaway victory over Ukraine's brilliant but unpredictable Alexandr Dolgopolov in Brisbane.
It was his final event before the year's first Grand Slam and Murray dominated from the off to beat the third seed 6-1 6-3 winning nine straight games from 1-1 in the first set and, although Dolgopolov rallied, he easily wrapped up the title.
Although Dolgopolov struggled with an injury it was a good start for Murray's new partnership with coach and former Masters Champion Ivan Lendl.
Murray said afterwards: "I'd like to say sorry to Alex; he had a problem with his leg.
"It's my first week with this new team and it was good. Mr Lendl - he's up there somewhere, hiding.
"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, a fault he has displayed in the past.
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 ever 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 surprised 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 ended 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.
2012 GRAND SLAMS
16-29 Jan: Australian Open
27 May-10 June: French Open
25 June-8 July: Wimbledon
27 Aug-9 Sept: US Open