Djokovic defeats Andy Murray to clinch first title of 2017

Novak Djokovic made a strong statement by winning his first title of 2017 with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 win over his main rival Andy Murray to win the Qatar Open title. The World No.2 also brought an end to Murray's successful run of 28 consecutive ATP tour wins in Saturday's final at Doha.

After a cautious start to the match, Djokovic landed the first blow with his only break point of the first set and then won four consecutive points. The Brit, who has never won the match against Djokovic after losing the first set in their previous 35 encounters, was soon trailing behind as the Serb broke in the eighth game following a string of unforced errors from Murray and won it at 6-3. 

However, in the second set, Murray saved three match points after being down at 3-5 and fought back to win four straight games to win the second set at 7-5 and pull level in the match. 

Despite looking tired in the third set at 2-3, Djokovic fought back and broke his opponent in game seven of the decider to win the match at 6-4 that lasted over two hours. Despite this win, Murray retains his World No.1 ranking which he attained after defeating Djokovic at the ATP World Tour Finals in London back in November.