Russian Daniil Medvedev won the Doha tournament on Saturday by beating Scotsman Andy Murray (6-4, 6-4) in the final, a week after winning Rotterdam, once again demonstrating his return to the fore.
Medvedev, world No. 8, confirms his excellent form after several disappointing months, marked by an early elimination at the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the year.
A tournament runner-up for the first time since June 2022 in Stuttgart, Murray rivaled Medvedev but missed important moments of the match, such as when he lost his service game at 4-4 in the second set, when he was leading 40-0.
The 35-year-old had however managed, a few minutes earlier, to erase a late break conceded at the start of the second set.
More solid in the key moments, Medvedev concluded the game with a nice backhand lob to win his first title in the capital of Qatar.
This new success validates the revival of Medvedev, who won the US Open in 2021.
The final of this ATP 250 tournament was in any case to crown a former world No. 1 in search of his past, recent or old glory, since Murray has not been among the best players for several years due to injuries, particularly to the hip.
Winner of three Grand Slam tournaments, the Scotsman is reborn this year, after his epic Australian Open, where he reached the third round after several daunting matches, including a 5:45 long one.
Now No. 70 in the ATP rankings, Murray concludes a great week spent in Qatar, during which he notably beat the German Alexander Zverev (No. 16), and should get closer to the top 50.