Cameron Norrie avenged last week's Argentina Open final defeat to Carlos Alcaraz by fighting back to beat the injury-hit Spaniard in a back-and-forth Rio Open final on Sunday.
Defending Rio Open champion Alcaraz was hampered by an injury to his right leg as he was pegged back after taking the opener, with Norrie eventually claiming a 5-7 6-4 7-5 win.
Alcaraz performed admirably despite seeing his movement limited in a nail-biting decider, but Norrie's power ultimately proved too much as the 27-year-old took his fifth ATP career title.
Top seed Alcaraz – playing in his 10th tour-level final at the age of 19 – started well and had forced seven break points by the time he took a thrilling first set, allowing Norrie just one.
With Alcaraz stopping to have his right thigh wrapped after appearing to be in discomfort, Norrie roared back and took the second set following three straight breaks of serve.
That teed up a dramatic finish, with Alcaraz playing a series of delightful drop shots to take the first break of the decider despite playing at walking pace for long periods.
Alcaraz stopped to tear the wrapping off his leg as the pair traded breaks in front of a lively crowd in Brazil, but it proved a bridge too far for the Spaniard as Norrie pinned him back, hitting several excellent returns to claim his first final success against a top-10 ranked opponent.
"It's so special to win this one, especially after losing a couple of finals already this year," Norrie told Amazon Prime Video. "I had to do it the tough way, you know?
"I was looking done there and I just managed to flip a switch and turn it around. It's a good day, especially on a surface I'm not too comfortable with. I had to battle a lot of demons in the last couple of weeks."
Charles Howell III put together a blistering eight-under final round to secure a dominant victory at LIV Golf Mayakoba on Sunday.
In the first event of the LIV Golf season, Howell just got better as the week rolled on, posting a three-under 68 on Friday, before closing with a 66 on Saturday and a 63 to put the icing on the cake.
He finished four strokes clear of the field, also carrying his team Crushers GC to the team title. Along with Paul Casey, also in the top five at seven under, and captain Bryson DeChambeau at one under, Crushers GC gapped the competition by nine strokes.
It was Howell's first professional win since the 2018 RSM Classic, earning a $4million prize as the individual champion, as well as his share of $3m for the team's success.
Peter Uhlein ended up in second place at 12 under, but he had his sights set on the win prior to an ugly triple-bogey following a shanked drive, and a shanked provisional.
Branden Grace was third at 10 under, and then there was another three-stroke gap to the rest of the field.
Reigning Open champion Cameron Smith produced a four-under final round to climb into a tie for fifth at six under.
After winning the inaugural team title, 4 Aces GC were weighed down by a horrific seven-over final round from captain Dustin Johnson, but they still finished second in the team standings thanks to Uhlein and Pat Perez (five under).
Phil Mickelson will be pleased with his four-under final round, pulling him to one over for the tournament, while Bryson DeChambeau ended up at even par.
Scotland boss Gregor Townsend claimed his team did everything but take their chances as they fell 32-21 to France in Paris, seeing Grand Slam hopes collapse.
The visitors came back from an early 19-0 deficit to close to 25-21 going into the final moments, when Gael Fickou went over for a clinching try.
After beginning their campaign with wins over England and Wales, the Scots arrived at the Stade de France believing they could extend their successful run, but an early red card for Grant Gilchrist put them in trouble.
Fabien Galthie's hosts pulled clear but were down to 14 men themselves when Mohamed Haouas was ordered off for a head-on-head hit on Ben White.
Head coach Townsend said: "From our perspective we're disappointed not to win. I'm so proud of a lot of aspects of the game, how we played, the effort that we put in, our togetherness, our resilience that was on show, but we created enough chances to win the game.
"We created enough chances to be leading at half-time, which was incredible to think when we were a man down and points down on the scoreboard. We believed we could win that in the second half, and we're just disappointed we didn't come away with a win.
"In the second half the game opened up even more, and we had opportunities to take them on wide, which we did. We just didn't take those opportunities. Credit to France in defence, but we probably played better today than in our last two games, and we did enough to win. We feel we did enough to win, but you've got to take those opportunities when you play the top teams in the world."
There is still a chance of a Triple Crown, with unbeaten Ireland heading to Murrayfield in two weeks' time.
"It's big for us to be still in the competition with two games to go, to be playing for a trophy and the Triple Crown," Townsend said. "It'll be a different game against Ireland. I don't think it will be as open. We'll wait and see if it is, and they're a difficult team to play against.
"But we really believe in what we have here. We've got up against one of the best teams in the world on their own patch with 14 men, and we've come away really disappointed not to get a win or get four tries against their defence."
France defence coach Shaun Edwards reflected on a dramatic match, saying Les Bleus knew the size of the challenge they faced.
"It's difficult to sum it up because there were so many ebbs and flows: red cards, fantastic tries, interceptions," Edwards said. "It had the lot, some fantastic goal-kicking as well. It was a high-class game.
"We knew we were playing against a high-quality opponent. They're the only team to have beaten us here since Fabien took over, so we were doubly determined not to let that happen again.
"It ended up being 14 against 14 so that was equal, but obviously having an advantage at first for us was something we took, and we picked up some points. It doesn't affect that much in defence. I think both teams adapted well."
France got back to winning ways in the Six Nations with a 32-21 bonus-point victory over Scotland at the Stade de France.
Scotland headed into Sunday's game having opened the competition with back-to-back wins for the first time ever in the Six Nations era, but their hopes of setting up a potential Grand Slam decider against Ireland were ended as France bounced back from their 32-19 defeat to Andy Farrell's side in their last outing.
France were ahead within five minutes through Roman Ntamack, with Thomas Ramos adding the extras, and things went from bad to worse for Scotland shortly after when Grant Gilchrist was sent off for a high tackle on Anthony Jelonch.
The hosts extended their lead to 19-0 with tries from Ethan Dumortier and Ramos, though they were down to 14 men themselves when Mohamed Haouas saw red for a head-on-head hit on Ben White.
Huw Jones reduced the deficit prior to the break before going over again shortly after the restart to spark hopes of a Scotland revival, though a Ramos kick went through the posts to stretch France's advantage to 11 points.
Finn Russell then barrelled over before converting his own try to cut the lead to just four, and his team got the ball back with less than two minutes to play.
Scotland needed to go almost the full length of the field, but a penalty handed possession back to France, and the hosts capped the victory through Gael Fickou.
Jamaica’s ex-WBA world featherweight champion Nicholas ‘Axe Man’ Walters ended more than six years of semi-retirement with a dominant points win over Colombian Luis Diaz Marmol in Santa Marta, Colombia on Saturday night.
Returning in a weight class 14 pounds above his title-winning featherweight division, Walters earned the unanimous decision over local favourite Marmol in the eight-round super lightweight (140-pound) main event. The official scorecard read 80-72 and 78-74 twice in favour of the 37-year-old from Montego Bay.
“Marmol was very game but the overall experience and skill level of Walters was the difference,” Fightnews web site reported about the Panama-based Jamaican.
“He did not show much effects of ring inactivity as he was in complete control.”
With the result, Walters improves his ring record to 27 wins (21 kos) against one loss and one draw and the 29-year-old Marmol’s log dips to 19 wins (11 kos) against 17 losses.
Walters said recently he was encouraged to return to the ring by several trainers in Panama. He had been visiting the boxing gym to keep in shape but admits he “wasn’t really serious about fighting” until experts around the gym encouraged him to come out of retirement.
Walters became the first Jamaican ever to win a world boxing title at home when he beat Colombian Daulis Prescott for the WBA’s 126-pound belt in December 2012 at the National Indoor Sports Centre in Kingston.
Saturday night’s outing was his first since November 20, 2016, when he quit against Vasiliy Lomachenko after being dominated by the outstanding Ukrainian for seven rounds in Nevada, USA.
Walters had turned pro in 2008 after an amateur career that included bronze at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games and two gold medals at the Caribbean Championships in 2005 and 2006. Within a few years he became one of the world’s most exciting fighters of the lower weight divisions after defeating big names like Nonito Donaire and Vic Darchinyan.
Aston Martin closed the door on a Sebastian Vettel comeback by revealing Felipe Drugovich is the driver they have put on standby for the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.
Formula 2 champion Drugovich will step up from his role as a reserve driver if Lance Stroll is unfit to take part in the March 3-5 race weekend. Stroll sustained a wrist injury while cycling, causing him to miss pre-season testing.
Team principal Mike Krack initially refused to rule out the possibility of Vettel returning to the cockpit, despite the German great retiring at the end of the 2022 season.
Vettel, who won four world titles and enjoyed a 16-season Formula One career, has stayed in touch with Krack since hanging up his racing helmet.
Krack declined to say whether Vettel had expressed an interest in a possible one-off return, which would have seen him team up with fellow former world champion Fernando Alonso.
Yet confirmation the 35-year-old would not be involved came on Sunday, with 22-year-old Brazilian Drugovich in line for a possible F1 race debut.
In a statement on Twitter, Aston Martin said: "The team will continue to give Lance every chance to race, pending recovery from his injury. Should he not be fit to compete, then Felipe will drive the AMR23 alongside Fernando."
Hubert Hurkacz fought off Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi to land the Open 13 Provence title in Marseille on Sunday.
Poland's former Wimbledon semi-finalist scored a 6-3 7-6 (7-4), serving 19 aces as he justified his status as the tournament's top seed.
Hurkacz broke serve in the fourth game of the opening set to seize command of the match, before resisting a determined effort from Bonzi in the second set to force a decider.
A sixth win in seven ATP finals for the 26-year-old Hurkacz came when Bonzi sent a forehand just wide.
The result means Bonzi, playing his second ATP final, has again been kept waiting for a first trophy success at this level, having also lost in the Pune title match to Tallon Griekspoor at the start of the year.
Bonzi, born in nearby Nimes, was hoping to become the first French champion at this event since 2017, when Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated compatriot Lucas Pouille in the final.
Hurkacz praised Bonzi in an on-court interview, telling the crowd: "He played really, really well. He deserved to win the second set. I just tried to compete as hard as I can.
"I think my game's getting better, and I'm super happy with the way I competed today. I know you guys wanted Benjamin to win."
Emma Raducanu has withdrawn from the inaugural Austin Open after contracting tonsillitis.
The 20-year-old has not played since her defeat in the Australian Open to Coco Gauff in January.
The Briton shot to tennis stardom with victory at the 2021 US Open, setting a record for the fewest majors played (two) before winning a title.
But a frustrating run of injuries and poor form across 2022, which also included numerous coaching changes, has seen her plummet to number 81 in the WTA Rankings and fail to reach the third round of a slam since her famous triumph.
"I'm sorry to have to withdraw from the ATX Open," Raducanu said on Sunday,
"I am currently suffering from tonsillitis and am unable to compete this week. Thank you to the tournament for the great hospitality here in Austin."
Marcel Siem pipped Yannik Paul to the Indian Open title as a brilliant four-under-par final round clinched victory on Sunday.
Paul headed into the third round on Saturday with a five-shot lead, but a troublesome day three saw his advantage cut to just one at the top of the standings.
Despite Paul steadying himself with a two-under final round to finish on 13 under, it was fellow German Siem who roared to victory with five birdies to reach 14 under and secure his first win on the DP World Tour since 2014.
Dutchman Joost Luiten finished a shot behind Paul in third, while Jorge Campillo and Kazuki Higa shot final rounds of three under and four under respectively to be tied for fourth.
An excellent day four for Alexander Knappe propelled him up to joint-sixth, managing two eagles in a six-under-par final round to leave him level with Thorbjorn Olsen.
Veer Ahlawat and Shubhankar Sharma were the best of the home favourites, both finishing strongly to be among a group of players on four under.
Speaking after his victory, Siem said: "This means a lot because two years ago I wasn't even sure if I could still compete on the European Tour, and now I'm a winner again."
Aston Martin chief Mike Krack refused to rule out the possibility of Sebastian Vettel coming out of retirement for the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Vettel retired at the end of the 2022 season after winning four world championships over a 15-year Formula One career.
But after Lance Stroll sustained a wrist injury while cycling, causing him to miss pre-season testing, there are rumours of Vettel stepping in to deputise at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix next week.
While team principal Krack said "plan A" was for Stroll to be fit enough to drive at next weekend's race, he did not close the door to Vettel making a shock return.
"Plan B we will speak about next week," Krack said. "I have had a couple of phone calls with Sebastian but this was also [the case] last year and will continue in the future.
"First our plan is to have Lance in the car and then we continue to see. You can ask me five times; we have not made a final decision."
Asked whether Vettel had shown an interest in returning, Krack stated: "I will not tell you.
"Don't forget one thing – he had a very thorough plan in mind for his retirement and this is something you have to respect.
"Let's see what happens."
Italian Camila Giorgi knocked out another seed on her way to clinching a spot in the Merida Open final where she will face Sweden's Rebecca Peterson.
Giorgi triumphed 7-5 7-6 (7-2) over fourth seed Katerina Siniakova in two hours and 12 minutes in Saturday's semi-final in Akron.
The Italian world number 68 had routed second seed Sloane Stephens 6-0 6-0 on Friday to earn her spot in the last four.
Swedish qualifier Peterson secured her final berth with a 6-2 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 over American Caty McNally.
The topsy-turvy match lasted almost three hours, with Peterson fighting back from 4-0 down in the third set by winning the final six games for victory.
Jayson Tatum scored a clutch three-pointer before Joel Embiid's full-court buzzer-beater was wiped off as the Boston Celtics clung on for a 110-107 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday.
Tatum drained the go-ahead triple with 2.0 seconds left from Marcus Smart's clever assist after Derrick White's inbound.
Embiid launched a desperate long-range shot which he hit but replays showed he released the ball after time had elapsed meaning the Celtics secured the win.
Tatum did not shoot the ball well throughout the game, finishing with 18 points on seven-of-17 shooting, but came up big when it mattered. The MVP candidate also pulled down 13 rebounds with six assists.
Al Horford turned the game with four three-pointers in the third quarter as the Celtics rallied from a 15-point deficit to lead at the final change.
Horford finished with 15 points, while Jaylen Brown top scored for Boston with 26 points with three steals.
Embiid had 41 points for the game with 12 rebounds and five assists, while James Harden added21 points with eight assists.
The Eastern Conference-leading Celtics have won three straight, improving their record to 44-17, while the 76ers, third in the east, are 39-20.
Grizzlies rout Nuggets in best in the west battle
The Memphis Grizzlies blew away the Denver Nuggets 112-94 in a match-up between the Western Conference's top two as Ja Morant scored 23 points with seven rebounds.
The Grizzlies led by as many as 35 points, opening up a 66-42 half-time lead and keeping the Nuggets to a season-low team score. Denver are 42-19 while Memphis are 36-23.
Nikola Jokic scored 15 points with 13 rebounds and three assists, while Jamal Murray only managed eight points on three-of-13 shooting from the field.
Knicks rout Pelicans in front of championship team
The New York Knicks honoured their onlooking 1972-93 NBA championship team in style, with a 128-106 rout of the New Orleans Pelicans making it five straight wins.
Julius Randle top scored with 28 points making five-of-10 three-point attempts along with seven rebounds and five assists, as five Knicks players reached double figures.
R.J. Barrett added 25 points with a season-high seven assists while Jalen Brunson scored 20 points. Zion Williamson was absent again for the Pels, for whom Brandon Ingram top scored with 19.
Top seed Carlos Alcaraz fought back from a set down against Nicolas Jarry to keep alive his Rio Open title defence by booking a spot in Sunday's final.
The Spanish 19-year-old triumphed 6-7 (2-7) 7-5 6-0 to win in two hours and 43 minutes in Saturday's semi-final.
Alcaraz raced away with the match with a third-set bagel in 32 minutes after both of the first two sets lasted more than an hour each.
The 2022 US Open champion produced one of the shots of the season to go 2-0 up in the third set, producing a remarkable running pass down the line.
Alcaraz had undergone treatment on his upper left leg late in the second set at 5-5 but showed off his toughness to reel off eight straight games.
"I'm so proud of myself," Alcaraz said, having only just returned from injury in last week's Argentina Open which he won. "To be in a final again in my second tournament is a really special moment for me... I couldn't ask for a better start of 2023."
The Spaniard will take on second seed Cameron Norrie in the decider, after the Briton won 6-2 3-6 7-6 (7-3) over Bernabe Zapata Miralles in Saturday's other semi-final.
Norrie needed two hours and 32 minutes to get the better of Zapata Miralles, meaning he has won 13 of his past 15 tour-level semi-finals.
Alcaraz and Norrie faced off in last week's Argentina Open final, which the Spaniard won in straight sets.
Chris Kirk will take a two-shot lead into the final round of the Honda Classic after carding a 66 on Saturday to close in on his first PGA Tour title in eight years.
The American, who claimed the last of his four top-tier triumphs back in 2015, leads a field that is devoid of any of the world's top-17 golfers.
His nearest rival is world number 330 Eric Cole, while playing partner and overnight leader Justin Suh is three strokes back after signing for an even-par 70.
Kirk, fresh from a stunning second-round 62, birdied the 17th and 18th to take charge at PGA National, although at least one household name is in the hunt.
World number 20 and 2019 Open champion Shane Lowry put himself firmly in the mix with a 65 that leaves him with a four-stroke deficit to overcome on Sunday.
And the Irishman is playing with added motivation as he seeks to pay a fitting tribute to his uncle Jimmy Lowry, who died on Thursday.
"It's a very sad week for our family," he said. "To be honest, I wanted to go home on Thursday when I heard the news. A lot of people talked me out of it.
"I'm here now. I'm trying to play for him and play for his wife and his kids and my cousins and my uncles and my aunts and everyone at home because we're a very close family and very proud of our name and very proud of where we come from."
England boss Steve Borthwick has told his players they must "accelerate" their progress after a 20-10 victory over Wales in Cardiff.
In Borthwick's third game as head coach, his team followed up victory over Italy last time out by getting the better of a Wales side who endured a disrupted build-up to their week three Six Nations challenge.
A contract dispute with the Welsh Rugby Union meant there was doubt until midweek that Saturday's game would even go ahead, amid talk of possible strike action.
Borthwick was hugely impressed by how Wales contributed so much, but it was his England who triumphed thanks to tries from Anthony Watson, Kyle Sinckler and Ollie Lawrence.
Captain Owen Farrell struggled with his kicking again, but England did enough.
They have won eight of their last 10 meetings with Wales in the Six Nations, but this result ended a run of two consecutive losses on the road against the Welsh.
England's last six victories over Wales had come by margins of six points or fewer, so by those standards this was a relative drubbing. In reality, it was nip and tuck until the final minutes.
Borthwick told BBC One he was "really proud of the team and what they did".
"That was a tough Test match. There wasn't much in it really," he said. "I think you've got to give those Welsh players such enormous credit and incredible respect.
"We've got quite a number of young men in there. There were a number of guys who played well. Now we've got to push on. There were bits in that performance that we can really push on with in this rebuilding.
"We need to accelerate. We've got two big games to finish the championship. For now, we've got to make sure we enjoy that win."
England have France at home on March 11, followed by Ireland away seven days later, taking on the teams ranked second and first in the world rankings.
It will be a lot clearer after those games where England stand, as they continue to build towards the Rugby World Cup under their new coach, who replaced the sacked Eddie Jones in December.
Farrell described England's showing as "a step forward", accepting his repeatedly wayward kicking was to blame for the visitors not pulling away.
"But it was a good test for us," he added. "We stuck in there, and we fought to the end and took control of the last 20 minutes I thought.
"There's bits starting to show, but we're laying some foundations at the minute and we want to keep building on it all."
Lawrence's try in the 75th minute put the game out of Wales' reach, with it having been on a knife edge to that point.
It meant England scored three tries away to Wales in Cardiff for just the second time in 12 Six Nations matches and for the first time since 2001.
Wales coach Warren Gatland saw good reason to be positive about his team's performance, even though they suffered a third successive loss in the championship.
Gatland said: "I can't be critical of the effort. We spoke in the changing room about being tough on ourselves, about some of the errors we made, things we can fix up and be better at.
"If we look at the mistakes we made that shifted the momentum back to England, they were at pretty critical moments.
"The message at half-time was to just stay in this arm wrestle and we'll get opportunities. The unfortunate thing is we turned the ball back over on too many occasions, dropped a couple of high balls and that was pretty frustrating, and a couple of penalties as well.
"Still for us there's work to do, but I thought there was improvement in some areas."
Top seed Hubert Hurkacz saw off a spirited Alexander Bublik in straight sets to seal his place in the final of the Open 13 Provence with a 6-4 7-6 (7-4) win.
The world number 11 wrapped up victory in his semi-final in Marseille without being taken to a deciding third set for the first time during his tournament run.
But he was still forced to fight for the result, after unseeded Kazakhstani Bublik pushed him hard in their encounter.
Hurkacz only broke serve once during the first set and had to hold his nerve in a second-set tie-break to finish the job.
He will face a homegrown opponent in Benjamin Bonzi in the final, after the latter won an all-French last-four encounter with wild card Arthur Fils.
The former saw off his fellow countryman 6-4 6-4 in a straight-sets triumph of his own.
England made it back-to-back Six Nations wins as they overcame a beleaguered Wales 20-10 at the Principality Stadium on Saturday.
Wales, whose preparations for the game were hampered after a dispute with the Professional Rugby Board and Welsh Rugby Union, have now suffered three straight defeats in this year's competition.
Captain Owen Farrell got England up and running with an early penalty from 45 metres, before winger Anthony Watson – making his first international start in almost two years – went over to cap a wonderful team move.
Farrell was unable to add the conversion from the touchline, which helped Wales reduce the deficit to five through Leigh Halfpenny's penalty.
Farrell squandered the chance to extend England's lead as he struck a penalty just wide of the posts, before Wales stunned the visitors within a minute of the second half when Louis Rees-Zammit intercepted a pass 40 metres out and raced over.
That try was converted by Halfpenny to put Wales ahead, yet England responded almost immediately as Kyle Sinckler powered over from close range, with Farrell adding the extra points.
Wales pushed hard to claw their way back into the game, but England's victory was sealed with five minutes remaining when Ollie Lawrence went over in the corner.
Wales fail to end tough week on a high
Wales boss Warren Gatland said the threat of strike action by his players had taken the team "to the brink of disaster" this week.
The worst case scenario was avoided, however, after an agreement was reached with the Welsh Rugby Players' Association on several key issues, including wages and changes to the 60-cap rule that governed international selection.
The saga evidently took a toll on Wales' players, who fought hard but just lacked the quality and energy required to overcome Steve Borthwick's side.
England maintain fine run over Wales
England have now won eight of their past 10 Six Nations meetings with Wales. Their six previous victories before this all came by margins of six points or fewer.
This latest win moves them onto 10 points in the Six Nations table, five adrift of leaders Ireland.
Key Opta Facts:
- Watson scored his first try for England since March 2021 (v France) - he has now scored five tries in his last five Six Nations starts and five in six matches against Wales.
- Sinckler has scored just his second ever Six Nations try in what is his 28th appearance in the competition - both of his tries have come away from home (also v Italy in Rome in 2022).
- Alun Wyn Jones played in his 16th Six Nations match against England; no other player has featured more than 13 times against England in the Championship.
- England have won a Six Nations game against Wales in Cardiff for the first time since 2017 (21-16), with their tally of just 10 points conceded being their lowest in the Welsh capital since 2003 (26-9).
What's next?
Wales face Italy in Rome's Stadio Olimpico in a fortnight – the same day England take on France at Twickenham.
Barbora Krejcikova stunned Iga Swiatek to win the Dubai Tennis Championships, cruising past the world number one in straight sets to clinch her first WTA 1000 title.
By following up victories over Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula with a ruthless 6-4 6-2 dismantling of Swiatek, Krejcikova became just the fifth woman to beat each of the world's top three players at a single tournament in the last 40 years.
Krejcikova entered Saturday's meeting as the only player to have beaten Swiatek in her eight hard-court finals at tour level, having done so at the Ostrava Open last October.
The Czech looked to be drawing on that experience as she made a flying start, breaking in the opening game through a well-struck backhand.
Though Swiatek responded with a break of her own in the sixth game, a rare double fault from the Pole saw the momentum swing Krejcikova's way.
Another excellent backhand return gave Krejcikova the opening set's decisive break, after which a visibly frustrated Swiatek was handed a time violation by the umpire.
Things did not get much better from there for the three-time grand slam winner, with a series of masterful returns helping Krejcikova seal two dominant breaks before wrapping things up.
Having clinched a highly impressive win within 91 minutes, Krejcikova told Amazon Prime Video: "It means a lot.
"It was a great week for me, I was improving with every single game and today, I think I showed my best.
"I really have to admire Iga for what she is doing. To me, she is a big inspiration and she motivates me every day. It was a great final and I'm definitely happy with the result."
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."
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