Tennis Capsules: Murray wins Brisbane International title
BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Andy Murray warmed up for the Australian Open with a commanding 6-1, 6-3 victory over third-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov on Sunday in the Brisbane International final.
For the second consecutive match, Murray had Ivan Lendl watching from courtside. Aiming to break a drought for British men at the majors dating to 1936, Murray hired the eight-time Grand Slam tournament winner as coach earlier this month and the pair met up Saturday in Brisbane.
"I'd like to thank my team ... Mr. Lendl, he's up there somewhere, hiding," Murray said. "It's my first week with this new team and it was good. I really enjoyed it. Hopefully it'll bring more success in the future."
The 24-year-old Murray has lost the past two Australian Open finals and is 0-3 in major finals.
The Scot's confidence high after capturing his 22nd ATP title, Murray will spend the next week in Melbourne preparing for the Australian Open, which starts Jan. 16.
Murray, ranked No. 4, raced through the first set in 26 minutes. He didn't lose a point on his own serve until the last game, when the Ukrainian twice had breakpoint chances but was unable to convert.
Murray won nine straight games from 1-1 in the first to take the match away from Dolgopolov, who rallied briefly by winning three in a row — including his only break against the Scot to get the second set back to 4-3.
But Murray held to regain momentum and then broke Dolgopolov's serve for the fifth time in the match to finish it off in 65 minutes.
Murray started the week slowly, dropping the opening sets of his first two matches and complaining of aches and pains, but didn't lose a service game in the quarterfinal and semifinal as he gradually got his match fitness back up to speed. And he didn't show any sign of the groin strain which prematurely ended his 2011 season.
The 23-year-old Dolgopolov moved up to a year-end No. 15 in 2011 and is aiming for his second ATP title, but was never in contention in the final. He has lost all three of his matches against Murray, including the Australian Open quarterfinals last year.
Dolgopolov strained his groin in his semifinal win over second-seeded Gilles Simon and wasn't at his peak against Murray.
"I'd like to say sorry for some boring tennis from me today," Dolgopolov told the crowd, "but that's the best I could do. ... I wasn't really fit and feeling good this week, but I made the final, so I'm really happy."
Raonic beats Tipsarevic in Chennai Open final
CHENNAI, India (AP) — Milos Raonic beat top-seeded Janko Tipsarevic 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4) in a serve-dominated Chennai Open final Sunday, earning his second career title.
Fourth-seeded Raonic hit 35 aces in a marathon match that lasted 3 hours, 16 minutes and didn't include a break of serve.
"It is an awesome feeling," said the 21-year-old Raonic, who won all 48 of his service games during the week to become the first player to win a tournament without dropping serve since Roger Federer at the 2008 grass-court tournament in Halle.
Raonic dropped only four points on serve in the first set and had four chances to break in the fourth game before the Serbian stole it in the tiebreaker.
"Tipsarevic took it away in the first set," Raonic said. "But I took my opportunities in the second and third."
Raonic established a 4-1 lead in the second-set tiebreaker before leveling the match on his second set point. He had to save break points early in the decider but dominated the tiebreaker with his serve.
"My serve is a big factor in my game ... in 99 percent of my matches," said Raonic, who averages 124 mph on his first serve. "My job is to take care of my serve."
The ninth-ranked Tipsarevic now has lost six of eight ATP finals in his career.
"Guys like Milos are special players," Tipsarevic said after his first match against the Canadian. "It was a great game of tennis. Nobody knew till the end who would win.
"Unluckily for me it was I who lost. It was just a matter of a few points here and there. Hopefully the next time I will get the better of him."
Ivanovic loses in first round at Sydney event
SYDNEY (AP) — Ana Ivanovic's Australian Open preparations hit another obstacle Sunday when the former No. 1 player lost to Lucie Safarova 7-6 (5), 6-2 in the Sydney International.
Ivanovic, the 2008 French Open champion, lost to Kim Clijsters in the second round last week in the Brisbane International. That means the Serb will have had just three tournament matches going into the Grand Slam event next week at Melbourne Park..
Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki and Petra Kvitova, the Wimbledon champion who is seeded No. 2, have first-round byes in the joint ATP-WTA Sydney tournament. Top-seeded Juan Martin del Potro and the three other men also have first-round byes.
At 5-5 in the first-set tiebreaker, Ivanovic missed an easy smash at the net that would have set up a set point.
"I kept replaying that shot in my mind throughout the whole match," she said. "I felt like that was the turning point."
Ivanovic said she would travel straight to Melbourne to get ready for the Australian Open.
"It gives me plenty of time to work on a few things and tune up a few things, but I feel my game is there," she said. "It's still going to be good to have a few days to work. I had a good offseason and I just want to try and keep at it."
In another first-round match, former Australian Open quarterfinalist and top-10 player Jelena Dokic beat fellow Australian Isabella Holland 6-0, 6-0.
The only other first-round match Sunday was halted because of rain in the third set with Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia up a service break and leading Peng Shuai of China 6-2, 4-6, 4-3.
Niculescu knocked out in first round at Hobart
HOBART, Australia (AP) — Anna Chakvetadze of Russia beat third-seeded Monica Niculescu of Romania 6-0, 6-4 in the first round of the Hobart International on Sunday. Romanians won three of the other four matches at the Australian Open tuneup event.
Sorana Cirstea beat seventh-seeded Ksenia Pervak of Kazakhstan 6-2, 7-6 (6); Simona Halep defeated Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic 4-6, 6-2, 7-5; and eighth-seeded Irina-Camelia Begu got past Britain's Elena Baltacha 6-2, 7-5.
Australian Anastasia Rodionova beat Greta Arn of Hungary 6-4, 7-5 in the only other match Sunday.
China's Zheng Jie wins Auckland title
AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) — Unseeded Zheng Jie won the ASB Classic for her fourth career singles title and first since 2006 when Flavia Pennetta retired because of a back injury in the third set Sunday.
The 28-year-old Chinese player was leading 2-6, 6-3, 2-0 when the fourth-seeded Pennetta, who required courtside treatment for the injury, indicated she was unable to continue. The final was played indoors after it was postponed Saturday because of rain.
