(Tennis) Murray defeats Nadal, wins Abu Dhabi exhibtion

Murray defeats Nadal, wins Abu Dhabi exhibtion

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP)—Andy Murray continued to serve notice to the world’s best players, beating top-ranked Rafael Nadal in the Capitala World Tennis Championship final a day after he had beaten No. 2 Roger Federer.

The fourth-ranked Murray defeated Nadal 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 to claim the winner-take-all prize of $250,000 in the exhibition tournament. The Briton is now aiming to win his first Grand Slam title when the Australian Open starts Jan. 19.

“I am looking forward to winning a Grand Slam this year and this victory was good before I go to Australia. I have never been past the fourth round there,” Murray said. “I trained hard over the break and the victories over the past three days have given me confidence.”

Murray, who will first defend his Qatar Open title in Doha, paid tribute to the support he received at the shootout tournament, which was not part of the ATP Tour but included six of the world’s top 10 players.

“The atmosphere here was pretty special over the last three days,” he said. “I am tired. It was a tough match and we both played well.”

Murray’s only previous victory over Nadal in six matches was at the U.S. Open semifinals in September, but the Spaniard had played 111 matches in 2008 and had to pull out of the Davis Cup final against Argentina in November due to an injured knee.

Murray, who has added more muscle to his frame during the offseason, broke Nadal in the third game of the first set. Nadal broke back in the eighth but dropped serve immediately and Murray wrapped up the set by holding serve in the next game.

Both players exchanged service breaks in the second set on the sixth and seventh games. Two unforced errors saw Murray concede serve and the set in the 12th game.

In the decider, both players played out long rallies but held serve. Murray broke Nadal after a marathon seventh game and then held serve to go up 5-3. Murray’s court coverage helped him run everything down and he broke Nadal one more time.

Nadal was pleased with his play despite the loss.

“It has been an amazing three days. I feel I played well but Andy played a bit better,” Nadal said. “He has carried his form over the last four months and he has a good chance to win in Australia. For me it was a very good test. Playing 2 hours, 45 minutes at the best level is good. I forgot about my knee and my injury. I am looking forward to the year.”

ITF honors Nadal and Jankovic for top seasons

LONDON (AP)—Top-ranked Rafael Nadal and Jelena Jankovic were honored Wednesday as the International Tennis Federation’s world champions of 2008.

Nadal, who overtook Roger Federer at the top of the men’s rankings shortly after beating the Swiss star in the Wimbledon final, is the first Spanish man to receive the honor.

“It has been an incredible year for me and I will never forget all that’s happened,” said Nadal, who also won his fourth straight French Open title in 2008, beating Federer in the final at Roland Garros for the third year in a row. “To finish the year ranked No. 1 was really special.”

The 22-year-old also won the Olympic gold medal in Beijing and helped Spain reach the Davis Cup final, where the European team beat Argentina despite the absence of the injured Nadal.

“It has been a wonderful year for Spanish sport, and I am happy to have been part of it,” Nadal said.

The only other Spaniard to have won the ITF award is Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario. She claimed the women’s honor in 1994.

Jankovic finished the year as the top-ranked women’s player despite failing to win a Grand Slam title in 2008—she lost in the U.S. Open final to Serena Williams. But the 23-year-old Serb still managed to win more matches than any other player on tour, and claimed WTA titles in Rome, Beijing, Stuttgart and Moscow.

“I worked really hard this year and to finish No. 1 is where I want to be and where I want to stay,” Jankovic said.

The ITF selects its world champions based on a system that includes results from the ATP and WTA tours, along with Grand Slams, Olympics and the Davis Cup and Fed Cup.

“Both (Nadal and Jankovic) are excellent ambassadors for their countries, for whom they have achieved considerable success both as individuals and in the ITF team competitions,” ITF president Francesco Ricci Bitti said.

In men’s doubles, Daniel Nestor of Canada and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia were named ITF World Champions. Cara Black of Zimbabwe and Liezel Huber of the United States took the award for women’s doubles.

The ITF Junior World Champion honors went to French Open boys champion Yang Tsung-hua of Taiwan and Wimbledon girls finalist Noppawan Lertcheewakarn of Thailand. Shingo Kunieda of Japan and Esther Vergeer of the Netherlands took the ITF Wheelchair World Champion honors.

The players will receive their awards at the ITF World Champions Dinner on June 2 in Paris.

Murray v Nadal Final 3/1/09 End of Match.