ATP Tour news: Andy Murray's fantastic Qatar run comes to an end against Daniil Medvedev

Andy Murray's brave run at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open came to an end with a straight sets defeat to world number eight Daniil Medvedev in Saturday's final in Doha.

The two-time Wimbledon champion found the encounter against the third seed a step too far as he was beaten 6-4 6-4 in one hour and 47 minutes.

Murray, a wildcard entry into the tournament, had won all four of his previous matches this week in three sets.

He remarkably saved five match points in a draining semi-final against Jiri Lehecka and the 35-year-old former world number one needed to show his battling qualities again.

He pulled a break back after falling 4-1 down in the first set and did so again after going 3-1 down in the second, but this time a comeback was beyond him.

Medvedev replied with another break in the ninth game of the second set and duly held on to complete back-to-back tournament victories following last week's triumph at the ABN AMRO Open in Rotterdam.

"[It was] a tough match," said Medvedev after his win. "It was a little bit windy today, so both of us were struggling to find our rhythm... Today was a big fight for both of us. Sometimes we were playing bad, then suddenly both of us were playing amazing, and I'm happy to win."

"I managed to find momentum in Rotterdam," said Medvedev, when asked about his recent form. "The first two matches I played there were tough. I didn't feel good before that tournament, and then starting in the quarter-finals against Felix [Auger-Aliassime], I started to find my rhythm.

"I started to play really good. Serve better, move better. Today it was tough for Andy to put the balls through me many times, and now the question is [if it] can continue. I'm going to try as long as I can."

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