Tennis/ QATAR OPEN: Britain's Andy Murray will head into the Australian Open later this month brimming with confidence despite a final defeat to Ivan Ljubicic in the Qatar Open on Saturday.
Murray failed to take advantage of eight crucial break point chances in the first set before he was beaten 6-4, 6-4 by the Croatian world number five.
But despite his near-miss the Scot, who is sure to climb from his current world ranking of 17, was hailed by Ljubicic, who said: "He is heading for the top 10 for sure."
Having only given himself two weeks off during a close season largely spent in tough physical preparations in America, Murray believes he has achieved the springboard to more Grand Slam success. Murray said: "It is a great start to the year. Obviously I would rather have won, but to get to the final is perfect. I should be feeling pretty good when I go into Australia."
CHENNAI OPEN: Belgian Xavier Malisse defeated Austrian Stefan Koubek 6-1, 6-3 in the Chennai Open final in India yesterday to win the second title of his career.
Third-seeded Malisse, who upset world number two Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals, produced a dominating all-court display for the second day in succession to close the contest in 61 minutes. "It is a dream start. (I) hope I can do this every week," 26-year-old Malisse said.
AUSTRALIAN HARDCOURT CHAMPIONSHIPS: Dinara Safina proved she could keep a lid on her emotions when it mattered by beating Martina Hingis 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 in the final of the Australian hardcourt championships on Saturday.
The Russian second seed secured her fifth WTA singles title with a crunching forehand winner, leaving Hingis frustrated in her build-up to the Australian Open, which begins on January 15th.
