Andy Murray beats Fernando Verdasco to win first Dubai Championships title

Murray's previous best in Dubai was finishing runner-up in 2012 Britain's Andy Murray saw off Spaniard Fernando Verdasco in straight sets to win the Dubai Championships for the first time.

The world number one dropped his first two service games but recovered to win 6-3 6-2 in one
hour and 14 minutes.

It is Murray's first tournament win of 2017 and the 45th of his career, which will see him extend his lead over Novak Djokovic at the top of the
rankings.

"I'm obviously very happy to do it here for the first time," said Murray.
"It's been a good start to the year."

Slow start, strong finish Murray went into the final with a 12-1 record against Verdasco, but the Scot made a slow start
to the final, losing his first two service games and throwing in four double faults.

However, Murray managed to get himself level at 3-3 and was rarely troubled again.

Verdasco, 33, let a 40-0 lead slip in game eight, firing a forehand wide on break point and Murray served out a set in which his returning ability had
made up for some erratic serving.

The Briton's game came together in the second set
and a forehand pass gave him the early break for a 2-1 lead.

When Murray ran down a seemingly hopeless point to force another break point at 4-2 it was as good as over for Verdasco, and the top seed
ended with the kind of clinical service game he had lacked at the start.

The final proved a far more straightforward contest than his quarter-final against Philipp
Kohlschreiber, which saw Murray save seven match points and win an epic 31-minute tie-break.

"Often when you get through matches like that it settles you down for the rest of the tournament," said Murray.

"It's been quite a few late finishes this week.
Maybe the last couple of matches, I didn't start as
well as I would like. It's been the same for all the players, a bit tricky with the rain. Once I got going today, I was moving well and I finished strong."