Andy Murray lost in straight sets against Andrey Rublev in the final of the exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi, denying his a third Mubadala World Tennis Championship title.
Murray had defeated old rival Rafael Nadal on Friday to set up a meeting with world number five Rublev, but the 2009 and 2015 winner dropped the first set and then fell down 4-2 in the second.
Murray won three games in a row, and while he was unable to force a decider as Rublev prevailed 6-4 7-6 (2), he can look back on a positive week after defeating British compatriot Dan Evans and then Nadal.
On Saturday evening, Murray won the opening four games on serve, but he was subsequently put under pressure by his opponent. With an ace, Murray saved the first break opportunity, but Murray blundered on the second, allowing Rublev to go up 3-2.
Rublev, who is ten years younger than Murray and has won three grand slams, needed none of it as he went on to grab a one-set lead, punishing his opponent with devastating groundstrokes from both wings.
Murray’s serve had kept the score close in the first set, but he was broken again at the start of the second, and the writing appeared to be on the wall as Rublev ripped him apart.
With three double faults in the eighth game, Rublev unexpectedly gave Murray a path back, and the Russian had to hold serve twice at 4-5 and 5-6 to avoid losing the second set, which proceeded to a tiebreak.
Rublev recovered his calm to win and claim the title for the first time.