Andy Murray makes a great start to the season by winning the first ever Capitala World Tennis Championships. With six top ten players competing in this exhibition, the competition was intense and despite the fact it was an “exhibition” I can guarantee nobody took this lightly.
James Blake, Andy Roddick, Nikolay Davydenko, Andy Murray, Roger Federer, and Nafael Nadal all took part in the exhibition. Murray beat Blake, and Davydenko beat Roddick in what amounted to play in matches. In the semis Murray defeated Federer in a 3rd set tiebreaker, while Nadal defeated Davydenko in straight sets. In the final Murray edged Nadal in three sets 6-4 5-7 6-3, laying claim to the title.
While this has no bearing on the rankings at all, this has to make Murray the favorite going into the Australian Open. He has now defeated Federer in their three previous matches and Nadal in their last two. Even though these were in no way dominating victories, it shows how far Murray has come, even form last years US Open, where he couldn’t string together wins over Nadal and Federer.
