Murray Beats on Unseeded Verdasco for ATP Dubai Title

With the rest of the top players in Acapulco this week, world No. 1 Andy Murray cruised to the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships title, defeating unseeded Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-2 in a yawner of a final.
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It was the first title of the season for the ATP’s top player who collected his 45th career singles crown.

“It’s nice to win and I played much better as the match went on,” said Murray, who improved to 13-1 career against the Spaniard. “I started a little bit slow, but I was solid. I wasn’t afraid to attack his forehand side. He’s got one of the best forehands, but I tried to move him around the court as much as I could. I defended pretty well and moved well. I served a lot better as the match went on. It was obviously good to win the first tournament here.”

Murray won his first Dubai trophy after finishing runner-up to Roger Federer in 2012.

The unseeded Spaniard topped seeds Roberto Bautista Agut and Gael Monfils en route to the final.

Verdasco fell to 7-15 in career finals, and outlined why he had a difficult opponent in the final.

“I think that obviously I had, if not the toughest opponent I can have in the final, then one of them, for sure,” said Verdasco. “He’s No. 1 in the world right now. It was obviously a really difficult final to win, but I came trying everything and giving everything…I’m happy that I tried everything, even if the things were not coming my way and I didn’t really have my best day. But I tried and I fought. It was just not coming.”