World number one Daniil Medvedev strolled to victory for his first title of the year at the Los Cabos Open with a 7-5 6-0 demolition of reigning champion Cameron Norrie on Saturday.
The Russian, returning to hard-court tennis in Mexico this week ahead of his US Open title defence, pulled away after an injury timeout late in the first set to comfortably triumph against the 12th-ranked Briton.
Medvedev won every game after the timeout, taken for treatment on a hand issue, after scores were locked at 5-5, with both players having broken serve in the first set.
The third-seeded defending champion had no answers in a lopsided second set which only lasted 26 minutes.
This year's Australian Open runner-up, playing in his fourth final of the season, sent down 5-0 aces and converted six of 10 break points for the match to secure his 14th career title. He was exceptional on serve, with a 67 per cent first-serve win percentage.
The triumph capped an excellent week for Medvedev, who did not drop a set across five wins.
"Every match was very good, but the final match is always special," Medvedev said on court after the match. "It's always a high-level match and I'm really happy I managed to show some good levels and play some good shots."
Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios will take on unseeded Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka in the Washington Open final on Sunday after maintaining his unblemished record at this year's event with a 7-6 6-3 victory over Mikael Ymer on Saturday.
Kyrgios, who won in Washington DC in 2019, had played twice on Friday following rain delays on Thursday but found his passage through with 10 aces including one on match point to secure victory in one hour and 34 minutes.
"I didn’t play anywhere near my best tennis today," Kyrgios said. "I served pretty solid, but from the back of the court I didn’t play well at all. I'm just happy to be in the final once again."
Kyrgios is yet to drop serve throughout this year's tournament and has knocked off seeds Francis Tiafoe, Reilly Opelka and Tommy Paul along the way.
The Australian will take on Nishioka who stunned top seed Andrey Rublev 6-3 6-4 in one hour and 20 minutes to secure a spot in his third career final, beating a top 10 opponent for the third time in his career.
Rublev blasted 21-8 winners but also hit 31-14 unforced errors, with the Japanese's consistency proving enough for victory.
Auger Aliassime and Shapovalov help Canada to Davis Cup victory
Felix Auger Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov helped Canada make a winning start to their Davis Cup Finals group-stage campaign, overcoming Argentina in Manchester.
Former Wimbledon semi-finalist Shapovalov got Canada off to a flier in the opening singles match of the Group D encounter, beating Francisco Cerundolo 7-5 6-3 in one hour and 37 minutes.
Cerundolo committed 51 unforced errors in a disjointed display, giving up back-to-back breaks early in the second set as the match slipped away from him after a competitive opener.
Not to be outdone, Auger Aliassime followed up Shapovalov's victory by beating Sebastian Baez 6-3 6-3, keeping his opponent under fierce pressure throughout and converting seven of the 12 break points he forced.
Doubles specialists Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni then beat Shapovalov and Vasek Pospisil in three sets, but that was not enough to deny Canada victory.
Great Britain and Finland are the other two teams in Group D, with Jack Draper leading the hosts' bid to reach the knockout stages in Malaga later this year.
Murray embracing new found freedom after tennis retirement
Andy Murray expected to miss playing tennis after putting his racket down for the final time last month but said retirement has been "the complete opposite" to what he anticipated.
Murray, who won three grand slam titles across a glittering 19-year career, saw his time on the court come to an end at Roland-Garros in the Paris Olympics.
The 37-year-old competed alongside Dan Evans in the men's doubles, reaching the quarter-finals of the competition to eventual bronze medallists Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul.
Murray withdrew from Wimbledon ahead of the Games after picking up a back injury against Jordan Thompson at the Queen's Club Championship, the latest of many injury setbacks towards the latter stages of his career.
"Since I've stopped, I feel really free and have got lots of time to do whatever it is I want," Murray told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
"I can dedicate time to my children and have free time to play golf or go to the gym on my own terms.
"It is really nice and I didn't expect that. I was expecting to find retirement hard and be missing tennis a lot and wanting to get back on the tennis court on tour.
"So far it has been the complete opposite to what I was thinking."
The 37-year-old won his first grand slam in 2012 at the US Open before ending Britain's 77-year wait for a men's Wimbledon champion in 2013, winning it again in 2016.
During his career, Murray played 1,001 singles matches in his career, earning his landmark victory against Alexei Popyrin in three sets at Queen's.
After his injury in W14, the Scot vowed that the 2024 Olympic Games would be where his career ended, a competition he won two gold medals in 2012 and 2016.
While there was no perfect ending in the French capital, Murray revealed he was now spending some quality time with his family.
"The thing that I always found difficult in recent years was that there was always a guilt associated with what I was doing," Murray said.
"If I was going away for a trip of like three to four weeks I would feel guilty leaving my children at home or being away from my wife for a long time with them, so missing the kids I found hard.
"But if I was at home with the kids then I was running around and spending a lot of my time on my feet after training.
"I was then thinking 'is this going to affect my training or performance the next day, should I have my feet up?' I found that stuff difficult over the last few years."
US Open: ATP's next generation pushing each other, says Sinner
After triumphing at Flushing Meadows, Jannik Sinner feels the next generation of stars on the ATP Tour push each other on.
Sinner won his second grand slam title by beating Taylor Fritz 6-3 6-4 7-5 in the US Open final on Sunday.
The Italian became the third youngest player in the Open Era to win the title at the Cincinnati Open and Flushing Meadows during the same season after Andy Roddick (2003) and John McEnroe (1981).
He is the third youngest player during the Open Era to register a minimum of 23 wins in grand slam matches during a single season, older only than Pete Sampras (23-2, 1993) and Rafael Nadal (24-2, 2008).
And while Novak Djokovic is still going strong, Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are spearheading a new generation of stars that are already living up to their potential.
"I feel like the new generation, we push each other," the world number one told ESPN after his win over 26-year-old Fritz.
"I always have players who are going to make me a better player, because there are going to be times where they beat me.
"Then you have to try to find a way how to win against certain players."
Alcaraz was among those to congratulate Sinner, with the Spaniard posting on his Instagram story after the final.
Fritz, meanwhile, became the second oldest American male in the Open Era to reach a maiden men's singles final at a grand slam, after MaliVai Washington (27 years 15 days) at Wimbledon in 1996.
He was looking to emulate Roddick's success from 2003, ending a 21-year wait for a homegrown champion at Flushing Meadows, but could not get over the line.
"There's obviously a lot of positives, and when I get some time to cool down then I'll be happy about the fact that I made it to the finals," reflected Fritz, who feels like he let fans down.
"But right now I'm pretty disappointed in just a lot of things on the court, how I played, how I hit certain shots. It sucks.
"And I'm not saying that it necessarily would have made a difference. I don't know if it would have, but I just would have liked to have played better and given myself a better chance. It's really disappointing right now.
"I feel like the fans obviously, American fans, been wanting a men's champion for a long time, and I'm pretty upset with how I played. I feel like, I don't know, I feel like I almost let a lot of people down."
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