Daniil Medvedev defied Andy Murray in the Qatar Open final to clinch a second title in seven days as the resurgent Russian won the battle of former world number ones.

In-form Medvedev scored a 6-4 6-4 victory on Saturday as he followed up last Sunday's title in Rotterdam with another trophy success.

Three-time grand slam winner Murray, set to jump 18 places to 52nd in the new rankings, had saved eight match points en route to the Doha final.

He pushed Medvedev hard but could not get the better of a player who will nudge up one spot to seventh in the rankings on Monday.

Murray came back from 0-40 in the opening game to force deuce, but he could not hold serve, and Medvedev soon broke again to lead 4-1.

But back came Murray, and the Briton had a break point to square up the opener at 4-4, only for Medvedev to cling on.

The second set also began with Murray dropping serve, but the 35-year-old levelled up at 3-3 with a backhand winner at the end of a terrific rally.

That raised his hopes of a full-scale fightback and a third title success at this event, plus a first tournament victory since 2019 in Antwerp, but Murray was broken from 40-0 in the ninth game, and that looked to end his hopes.

Murray saved a ninth match point of the week, albeit thanks to a double fault from his opponent, but the Scot could not do so for a 10th time, with a lob from Medvedev giving him a big win and the 17th tour-level title of his career.

Medvedev, the 2021 US Open champion, told Amazon Prime Video in a courtside interview: "It was a very tough match. I'm happy to win, today was a big fight.

"Both of us sometimes were playing bad, then suddenly both of us were playing amazing, and I'm happy to win.

"It was tough for Andy to put the ball through me many times. Now it has to continue, so I'm going to try for as long as I can."

Andy Murray will play Daniil Medvedev in the Qatar Open final after the 35-year-old came through yet another lengthy contest in his semi-final against Jiri Lehecka.

Murray appeared to be on course for a routine win after taking the first set 6-0, but was broken early in the second, eventually losing 6-3 to take him to a fourth three-set contest in four matches this week in Doha.

Lehecka should have won a hard-fought decider when 5-4 and 40-0 up on his own serve, but Murray's trademark resilience saw him break back despite facing five match points against, before ultimately winning the tie-break 8-6.

"I don't know how I managed to turn that match around," Murray said after the win. "In the 5-4 game, I think I played most of the match points really well. He missed one bad shot on the deuce point in that game at 5-4, but I played the match points pretty well.

"It's been an amazing start to the year. I have never experienced this in my whole career, like this many matches... It was sort of looking [like it might be a quicker match] for 30 minutes and then it turned into something completely different. Yeah, just amazing that I managed to turn that around."

Murray equalled Jimmy Connors for the fifth-most ATP hard court wins in the Open Era (489), and will play Medvedev in the final after the Russian's 6-4 7-6 (9-7) win against Felix Auger-Aliassime.

The Canadian had three set points in the second set tie-break to try and force a decider, but Medvedev showed determination to turn it around and seal his place against Murray in the final.

At the Open 13 Provence, number one seed Hubert Hurkacz is through to face Alexander Bublik in the semi-finals, with both also having to come through three-set matches in a deciding tie-break.

Hurkacz was finally able to overcome Mikael Ymer 6-3 3-6 7-6 (8-6) before Bublik defeated Grigor Dimitrov 7-5 3-6 7-6 (8-6).

Third seed Alex de Minaur was shocked by Benjamin Bonzi, who broke the world number 23 four times on his way to a 6-2 6-4 victory to avenge his third-round defeat at the Australian Open.

Bonzi will meet qualifier Arthur Fils in the final four after the French 18-year-old beat former world number three Stan Wawrinka 6-2 6-3 to reach a second straight tour-level semi-final.

World number two Carlos Alcaraz had to come from a set behind to defeat Fabio Fognini 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 6-4 on Thursday to advance to the Rio Open quarter-final.

The 19-year-old phenom has now won all five of his matches in 2023 after winning last week's Argentina Open, and the 2022 Rio champion is now three wins away from defending his title at South America's only ATP 500 event.

Against Fognini, Alcaraz lost the first set despite creating 11 break point opportunities, as his Italian opponent converted all four of his own chances in a back-and-forth battle. 

The Spaniard tightened up his service game down the stretch, only allowing Fognini one break point opportunity from the second and third frames combined, and he will now play Dusan Lajovic following his 6-2 6-4 win against Serbian compatriot Laslo Djere.

Chile's Nicolas Jarry is still yet to lose a set in the tournament, following up his impressive upset of third seed Lorenzo Musetti with a 6-2 6-2 triumph over Pedro Martinez.

Jarry will get a crack at another seeded opponent next when he takes on Argentina's sixth seed Sebastian Baez, who emerged victorious 7-5 7-6 (8-6) after two gruelling sets against Peru's Juan Pablo Varillas.

Fourth seed Francisco Cerundolo was eliminated 6-1 4-6 6-1 by Bernabe Zapata Miralles, who will meet Albert Ramos-Vinolas in an all-Spanish quarter-final after he fought off Daniel Elahi Galan 6-2 6-4.

Carlos Alcaraz finished the job against Brazilian wild card Mateus Alves to set up a second-round meeting with Fabio Fognini at the Rio Open.

Alcaraz's first-round meeting with Alves was halted on Tuesday due to heavy rain with the 2022 US Open champion leading 6-4 5-3, but the Spaniard clinched victory on Wednesday 6-4 6-4.

The top seed will take on 35-year-old Italian Fognini, who also was made to wait to secure his progress due to the Tuesday rain, eventually triumphing 6-2 6-3 over Chilean qualifier Tomas Barrios Vera.

Second seed Cameron Norrie endured a tough second-round tussle with local Thiago Monteiro, needing two hours and 30 minutes to triumph 7-5 7-5.

The Briton prevailed in one hour and 25 minutes in the first set against the 83rd-ranked Brazilian, while he was broken when serving for the match at 5-4 in the second frame.

Norrie, however, rallied to break straight back before securing victory after successfully serving the match out on the second attempt.

Fifth seed Diego Schwartzman was the major casualty of the day's play, going down 6-1 6-4 to Serbia's Dusan Lajovic in one hour and 29 minutes.

Brazilian veteran Thomaz Bellucci farewelled the ATP Tour after losing 6-3 6-2 to sixth seed Sebastian Baez.

Albert Ramos Vinolas, Bernabe Zapata Miralles and Hugo Dellien were also winners on Wednesday, with the latter progressing into the quarter-finals to face Norrie.

Sunday's Argentina Open champion Carlos Alcaraz was one game away from victory against Mateus Alves before heavy rain halted play at the Rio Open first round on Tuesday.

Alcaraz led 6-4 5-3 over the Brazilian wildcard, but was denied a shot at victory as rain interrupted play, which ultimately suspended for the day. Alcaraz's match is scheduled to resume on Wednesday afternoon local time.

The 2022 US Open champion had triumphed last week in Buenos Aires in his first tournament since November following injuries that kept him out of the 2023 Australian Open. Alcaraz is the reigning Rio Open champion.

Cameron Norrie, who Alcaraz beat in the Argentina Open final, progressed with a 7-5 6-1 win over Juan Manuel Cerundolo in one hour and 29 minutes.

Norrie had rallied from a 5-3 deficit in the first set to claim the opening frame, winning 10 of the final 11 games for victory.

Italian veteran Fabio Fognini's charge into the second round was also delayed on the brink of triumph, leading 6-2 5-2 against Chilean qualifier Tomas Barrios Vera when rain intervened.

Fourth seed Francisco Cerundolo won 4-6 6-3 6-3 over Roberto Carbellas Baena while Colombia's Daniel Galan and Peru's Juan Pablo Varillas were also winners on Tuesday.

Emil Ruusuvuori consigned Dan Evans to a first-round exit at the Qatar Open with a straight-sets victory on Tuesday.

Finn Ruusuvuori ousted the sixth seed with a 7-5 6-4 victory in Doha with a powerful display.

There were 26 winners from the racket of Ruusuvuori, who had only come out on top in one of his previous eight matches against top-30 opponents.

Ruusuvuori's next assignment will be a meeting with Jiri Lehecka, who saw off qualifier Damir Dzumhur 6-3 7-6 (7-3).

Roberto Bautista Agut, the fifth seed from Spain, saw the back of Marton Fucsovics 7-6 (9-7) 5-7 6-4.

Botic van de Zandschulp, Tallon Griekspoor and Soonwoo Kwon also made it through to round two.

Maxime Cressy had to dig deep to make it out of the first round of the Open 13, beating Geoffrey Blancaneaux 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-4).

The fifth seed from the United States was joined in the last 16 by David Goffin, who defeated qualifier Lukas Klein 6-2 6-4.

Eighth seed Marc-Andrea Huesler made an early departure after going down in straight sets to Gregoire Barrere in Marseille.

Thiago Monteiro enjoyed a memorable victory on Monday as he defeated former world number three Dominic Thiem 6-1 3-6 7-6 (7-2) in his opening match of the Rio Open.

The highest-ranked Brazilian in the field made a winning start at South America's only ATP 500 event, but he had to work for it, emerging victorious after an 88-minute third set.

A raucous crowd cheered on every point down the stretch, and after saving four break point opportunities to force a tiebreaker, he jumped ahead to a 5-1 advantage and served it out.

He will face the winner between second seed Cameron Norrie and rising Argentine talent Juan Manuel Cerundolo in the next round.

Meanwhile, the top seed in action on Monday – third seed Lorenzo Musetti – continued his recent rough stretch of form with a disappointing 6-4 6-1 defeat at the hands of Chile's Nicolas Jarry.

Musetti, already ranked 18th in the world at 20 years old, has now lost four of his past five matches, while Jarry has won eight out of 10.

Jarry will play Spain's Pedro Martinez in the second round after he spoiled a potential all-Chilean matchup, eliminating Cristian Garin 7-6 (7-0) 6-4.

The only other Brazilian in action, Joao Fonseca, had no luck against Slovakia's Alex Molcan as he went down 6-0 6-3, while Bolivia's Hugo Dellien was similarly dominant in his 6-0 6-2 trouncing of Portugal's Joao Sousa.

After taking a set off world number two Carlos Alcaraz at last week's Argentina Open, Laslo Djere advanced into the second round as Facundo Bagnis retired in the second set while trailing 6-2 3-2.

Andy Murray saved three match points before seal a thrilling comeback victory over Lorenzo Sonego at the Qatar Open.

Making his first competitive appearance since his run to the third round of the Australian Open, Murray rallied after losing the first set to clinch a 4-6 6-1 7-6 (7-4) win in Monday's first-round contest.

The three-time grand slam winner – given a wildcard for the event in Doha – was the master of his own downfall in the opener as a double-fault handed Sonego the decisive break.

Having failed to force a single break point in the first set, Murray dominated the second but was facing an early exit when Sonego forced three match points in the decider, only for the momentum to swing again as the former world number one took it to a tie-break.

Sonego raced into a 3-0 lead, but Murray again came roaring back, squandering one match point when he flicked a backhand into the net but making no mistake second time around.

Murray will face fourth seed Alexander Zverev in the second round, as he bids to reach his first tour-level quarter-final of the season.

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina saw off Constant Lestienne 6-4 6-3, while Murray's fellow Brit Liam Broady saw off qualifier Oleksii Krutykh 6-0 4-6 7-6 (7-2).

Australian duo Jason Kubler and Christopher O'Connell also progressed in Doha.

Stan Wawrinka moved into the last 16 of the Open 13 with a 6-4 6-7 (6-8) 6-4 victory over Zizou Bergs.

Benjamin Bonzi and Alexander Bublik were the other first-round winners, ousting Luca Van Assche and Filip Krajinovic respectively in Marseille.

Novak Djokovic claimed a share of yet more history on Monday as he started his 377th week as world number one.

Djokovic has won 22 major titles, the joint-most among men, and has long since held the record for the most weeks at the top of the ATP rankings.

His nearest rival on the men's tour – since the rankings were introduced in 1973 – is the now retired Roger Federer, who spent 310 weeks in top spot.

But Djokovic has also matched Steffi Graf, the WTA leader, in making it to 377 weeks.

Graf was the women's number one 45 weeks longer than second-placed Martina Navratilova (332), with Serena Williams in third (319).

The WTA rankings began in 1975.

Taylor Fritz showed why he is ranked top-10 in the world and rising after beating Miomir Kecmanovic 6-0 5-7 6-2 in Sunday's final of the Delray Beach Open.

Fritz, 25, came into the tournament sitting at a career-best rank of seventh, and he did not lose his first set in Delray Beach until the final.

The top seed, Fritz was nearly perfect in the opening set, hitting 15 winners with only one unforced error and taking 72 per cent (28-of-39) of the total points. Kecmanovic did not hit a single winner in the set.

The 23-year-old Serbian showed far more fight in the second, and after saving all three of Fritz's break-point opportunities – including one match point – Kecmanovic capitalised on his one and only break-point chance of the match to force a third set.

But the mistakes crept back into the underdog's game, shooting himself in the foot with a pair of double faults and more unforced errors than winners.

Fritz took full advantage, securing two breaks down the stretch to run away with the victory and his first title of 2023.

After winning just one of his first six finals on the ATP Tour, Fritz has now won the past four finals he has reached.

In his first tournament since a four-month injury layoff Carlos Alcaraz went all the way and defeated Cameron Norrie 6-3 7-5 in the Argentina Open final.

Alcaraz, 19, became the youngest player to ever reach the world number one ranking in September, and with his victory in Buenos Aires he now has seven ATP Tour singles titles to his name.

After knocking off some rust in a close three-set opening match against Laslo Djere, Alcaraz advanced to the final following straight sets victories over Dusan Lajovic and Spanish compatriot Bernabe Zapata Miralles.

Against Norrie, Alcaraz played an exceptionally tight first set, winning 73 per cent (16-of-22) of his service points while not allowing his opponent a single break point opportunity.

He broke twice in the opening set and secured another quick break to begin the second, jumping ahead 3-0 as he threatened to run away with the match.

Norrie did not lay down, recovering from 5-2 down to tie things up at 5-5, but Alcaraz would not allow it to reach a tie-breaker as he finished the match with another break of serve.

The 250 ranking points on offer to the winner pulls Alcaraz to within striking distance of Novak Djokovic as he looks to reclaim his spot as world number one.

Daniil Medvedev came from a set behind to beat Jannik Sinner in the Rotterdam Open final and land his 16th ATP Tour title. 

A 5-7 6-2 6-2 win for Medvedev gave the 27-year-old Russian his first trophy of the year, extending his career head-to-head record to 5-0 against Sinner.

The run from Medvedev this week has secured his return to the top 10 in the rankings, with the former number one set to go up three places to number eight on Monday.

Victory came in sharp contrast to Medvedev's last two appearances at the tournament, when he suffered first-round losses in 2020 to Vasek Pospisil and in 2021 to Dusan Lajovic.

Medvedev said after his win: "Thanks to all members of my team who are with me no matter what: some tough moments, some good moments, and we continue growing.

"The last two times I played here were terrible, and I'm happy to make it better this year."

Medvedev and Sinner's past meetings had curiously all come on indoor hard courts, as this also did.

Sinner won a title last week at the Open Sud de France in Montpellier, so the 21-year-old was not wanting for confidence as he looked to finally register a win over Medvedev.

The Italian out-rallied Medvedev at the end of the first set to snatch the vital break, but he could not ride that momentum into the early stages of the second.

An early break went the way of 2021 US Open winner Medvedev, whose remarkable defence was a key factor as the comeback gathered steam.

A double fault from Sinner handed Medvedev a 4-1 lead and a double break, nudging the match towards the decider.

When it came, first blood went to Medvedev as Sinner netted a backhand to give up a break in the third game.

The Moscow man saved a break point in the next game to stay ahead, and that setback left Sinner sapped, his challenge fading as Medvedev maintained an impressively high level.

Daniil Medvedev had no problems against Grigor Dimitrov as he eased into Sunday's Rotterdam Open final.

The former world number one took just 82 minutes to win 6-1 6-2, converting six of 13 break points against his Bulgarian opponent.

Medvedev rises back up to 10th in the world rankings after the win, and will go ninth if he can claim the title.

"It was an amazing match," Medvedev said after his victory. "The score [looks] easy, but the match was not. I felt physically like I was playing five sets.

"It would be amazing [to win the tournament]. Every time I come here, and I think it is my fifth time here, everywhere there are photos of the winners and their names.

"I don't remember who won it first time, but then Arthur Ashe won it [twice]. Then [John] McEnroe, [Bjorn] Borg, [Stefan] Edberg, and I'm like, 'Well, that tournament has a history for sure'. To add my name there would be amazing, but for this I need to play well in the final."

That final will be against Jannik Sinner after the Italian overcame spirited home wildcard Tallon Griekspoor.

It was Sinner's impressive serve that saw him through 7-5 7-6 (7-5), not facing a single break point, and ruthlessly taking the only one he carved out all match to take the first set.

He kept his nerve to see out a second set tie-break, and now has the chance to follow up last week's Open Sud de France title with another in Rotterdam.

Daniil Medvedev was at his brilliant best as he ended Felix Auger-Aliassime's title defence at the Rotterdam Open.

Former world number one Medvedev committed just five unforced errors in a 6-2 6-4 win on Friday that saw him progress to the semi-finals.

"Today was my best match of the week, but I have to build on this," Medvedev said afterwards.

"Usually, the best weeks you play, many times you're going to play your best tennis in the last match, so that's definitely a goal.

"But I'm happy with my level today, beating someone like Felix in straight sets."

He will next face Grigor Dimitrov, who needed three sets to see off Alex de Minaur.

Dimitrov saved two match points in claiming a 6-3 3-6 7-6 (8-6) victory but seemingly has an uphill challenge having lost four of his six matches against Medvedev.

"I kind of know the plan for the game,” Medvedev added of his clash with Dimitrov. "The thing is, he is going to try to do the same, to make up a good plan. If we take the last two matches, it's 1-1. So I always say a new match is a new match, no matter the head to head. 

"I'm preparing for a tough one tomorrow, he's such a great player and today was a great match from him, a great comeback actually. So I'm ready for the tough fight tomorrow."

Jannik Sinner was just as impressive as Medvedev, cruising to a 6-1 6-3 victory over three-time grand slam champion Stan Wawrinka.

Sinner, who won the Open Sud de France last week and has already dumped out top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, will face Tallon Griekspoor after the Dutchman's win over fellow home hope Gijs Brouwer.

Lorenzo Musetti won his opening match at the Argentina Open in comfortable fashion, defeating hometown hero Pedro Cachin 6-2 6-3 on Thursday.

World number 20 Musetti is still just 20 years old, making him the third-youngest player inside the top-40. The only younger players are 19-year-olds Carlos Alcaraz (world number two) and Holger Rune (world number nine).

The talented Italian has two ATP Tour titles to his name, but none outside of Europe, and he will hope to change that after he advanced to the quarter-finals in Buenos Aires.

Musetti will play Peru's Juan Pablo Varillas next after he prevailed 6-4 6-4 against former world number three Dominic Thiem.

Fifth seed Francisco Cerundolo did his part to set up an all-Argentine quarter-final clash after dominating Jaume Munar 6-2 6-1, but compatriot Diego Schwartzman could not hold up his end of the deal, falling 6-1 6-3 to Spain's Bernabe Zapata Miralles.

Meanwhile, world number seven Taylor Fritz made a winning start to his Delray Beach Open campaign, defeating Ecuador's Emilio Gomez 6-4 6-3.

Fritz will play France's Adrian Mannarino in the quarter-final after the 34-year-old veteran eliminated 24-year-old American J.J. Wolf 7-5 6-2.

Second seed Tommy Paul was too strong for Denis Kudla in a 6-3 6-4 triumph, and he will play Radu Albot for a place in the semi-final after the Romanian emerged the 6-4 6-4 victor against Australia's Aleksandar Vukic.

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.