Britain’s Jamie Murray and Brazil’s Bruno Soares won the Apia International in Sydney with a straight-set victory over Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea.
Scot Murray and his new men’s doubles partner won 6-3 7-6 (8-6).
They were playing only their second tournament together after Murray ended his partnership with John Peers.
The pair won two matches on Friday to reach the final against India’s Bopanna and Romanian Mergea because of a weather delay.
The tournament is a warm-up event for the Australian Open, which begins in Melbourne on Monday.
Serbia’s Viktor Troicki, 29, retained his Apia International title with a 2-6 6-1 7-6 (9-7) victory over Grigor Dimitrov on Saturday.
The two were meeting for the second time in as many weeks.
On Friday, Russia’s former US and French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, 30, beat Puerto Rico’s Monica Puig in the women’s singles final 6-0 6-2.
Petra Kvitova was unable to defend her title because of a stomach virus, while second seed Agnieszka Radwanska also withdrew because of a leg injury.
Switzerland’s Martina Hingis and India’s Sania Mirza beat Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic of France 1-6 7-5 10-5 in the women’s doubles final on Friday.
| Australian Open |
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| Venue: Melbourne Park Dates: 18-31 January |
| Coverage: Live radio and text commentary on all Andy Murray matches; listen to Tennis Breakfast on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra from 07:00 GMT every day |
Britain’s Andy Murray and Heather Watson discuss the role of their coaches before the Australian Open in Melbourne, with Murray stating his family are his main priority for 2016 as he prepares for the birth of his first child.
READ MORE: Andy Murray says wife and baby are priority
| Australian Open |
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| Dates: 18-31 January Venue: Melbourne Park Coverage: Live radio commentary on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra, from 07:00 GMT daily & online |
As he prepares for a year in which he will try to win the Australian Open for the first time and successfully defend his Olympic title, Andy Murray says his priority for 2016 is his family.
Murray’s wife Kim is due to give birth to their first child next month, and the British number one remains determined to be there, even if it means leaving Melbourne early.
“My child is more important to me, and my wife is more important to me, than a tennis match,” he said, in the run-up to the first Grand Slam of the year.
“It’s a big change for me and my wife, but that’s the current priority and I’ll see after that.
“I have no idea how that will change things. I still love tennis: I have trained and prepared as best as possible for here and I feel like I’m in a good position to do well, but my current priority is my family.”
The Scot, 28, will face German teenager Alexander Zverev on Tuesday in the first round of the Australian Open.
He does not have a private jet on standby, so it will take a minimum of 24 hours to cover the 10,500-mile journey home should his wife go into labour.
But the world number two said confidently: “As soon as the call comes in, I’ll find a way to get home in time, I’m sure.”
Novak Djokovic, 28, won three Grand Slam titles in the year after becoming a father, and 34-year-old Roger Federer shows no signs of slowing up as he travels the world with two sets of twins.
“When I’m practising and when I’m playing matches, I’m fine. I can concentrate very well on my tennis,” Murray said.
“The thing with the time change is that during my day Kim is sleeping, and when I’m sleeping she’s obviously awake, so there’s only a couple of hours at the end of the day when we’re awake at the same time.
“I think everyone who’s been in the position of becoming a parent, in the few weeks beforehand you think about it quite a lot – it’s a pretty big thing that’s about to happen.”
Murray, who has lost four finals at Melbourne Park, is the second seed this year.
Speaking last week, he said winning the Australian Open after being close “many times” was his “number one” on-court for the year.
No. 8 seed wins 3rd ATP crown as under-the-weather Sock retires in second set
It was a stacked draw that featured four former champions and four players in the Top 12 of the Emirates ATP Rankings. But 25th-ranked Roberto Bautista Agut was anything but intimidated at the ASB Classic.
The No. 8-seeded Spaniard defeated 2015 champ Jiri Vesely 6-3, 7-5 in the opening round; American Donald Young 6-4, 7-6(3) in the second round, two-time titlist John Isner 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 in the quarters and No. 2 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-4 in the semis, saving a match point in the process. And on Saturday, he was simply too much for Jack Sock, who was still feeling the effects of flu-like symptoms and retired in the second set due to illness. The 6-1, 1-0 ret. Decision gave Bautista Agut the third title of his career.
“I feel so happy,” said Bautista Agut. “I think I had an amazing week. I had plenty of good wins, played wonderful tennis here. I feel sorry for Jack and I want to congratulate him because he had a really great year last year, and I want to wish him luck for the rest of this season.”
It wasn’t until the 17-minute mark, serving at 0-5, that Sock was able to get on the scoreboard. But as the American’s body language clearly showed, he was struggling mightily. Between sets he likened his condition to “an out of body experience.”
“I don’t feel like I’m really here,” he said.
He opted to forge on, but after dropping his serve to open the second set, he walked to the net to announce his retirement.
Sock was appearing in his third ATP World Tour final, all of which have come in the last nine months. The 23-year-old won his first title in Houston before finishing as runner-up in Stockholm. Bautista Agut also reached two finals in 2015, falling in back-to-back weeks at Moscow and Valencia. The 27-year-old is now 3-4 overall in finals. He evened his FedEx ATP Head2Head history against Sock at 2-2. He will pocket $82,450 in prize money to go along with 250 points in the Emirates ATP Rankings.
| Australian Open |
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| Venue: Melbourne Park Dates: 18-31 January |
| Coverage: Live radio and text commentary on all Andy Murray matches; listen to Tennis Breakfast on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra from 07:00 GMT every day |
Britain’s Dan Evans has reached the Australian Open main draw for the first time in his career.
The 25-year-old from Birmingham beat Bjorn Fratangelo 7-5 4-6 6-0 in the third round of qualifying in Melbourne.
Evans capitalised on six of his nine break-point opportunities to knock out the American, who is ranked 54 places higher at 131.
It means six British singles players will line up at the event, which starts on Monday.
“It’s nice [qualifying for the main draw],” Evans said. “I worked hard in pre-season in La Manga, even in the summer when I was playing in England in the Futures I was trying to work pretty hard. It was playing tennis and staying professional.
“I think that’s the difference, just staying focused on court and staying more interested and focused on just playing tennis rather than all the other stuff, and that’s pretty much what I did.”
After losing the second set, Evans, who was as low as 772 in the world rankings back in May, came out more aggressively in the third.
“I tried to hold in the first game. It didn’t feel like he was on top or any different from when I won the first set,” he added.
“So I tried to jump on him early and then carried on rolling from there. That was my plan, just to get a lead in the third. I’d beaten him twice and your belief can start to go when you’re losing again to someone who has beaten you twice. It’s tough.”
Venus/Pavic overcome No. 4 seeds 7-5, 6-4 for Auckland title
There’s no place like home. Just ask Michael Venus. Playing in his birth city on Saturday, the New Zealander teamed with Croat Mate Pavic to win the doubles title at the ASB Classic, his countrymen cheering him on as they defeated No. 4-seeded Americans Eric Butorac and Scott Lipsky 7-5, 6-4.
Venus/Pavic didn’t drop a set en route to the title.
“I was a little bit surprised we played that good today,” Pavic told the crowd afterward. “Mike was a bit emotional today because he played a final in front of all of you guys.”
Venus became the first Auckland champion from New Zealand since Marcus Daniell partnered with Horia Tecau to win the 2010 title.
With the first set on serve at 5-all, Butorac/Lipsky fell behind 0-40 and were broken at love. Venus/Pavic would consolidate the break to take the 33-minute stanza.
The New Zealand/Croatian combo would grab another break in the fifth game of the second set to distance themselves for good. Amidst shouts of “GO, KIWI!” Venus served out the match in front of the home crowd in 69 minutes. They improved to 19-12 lifetime on the ATP World Tour and 2-2 in finals, their first title coming last year in Nice.
“I think Kiwi tennis is in good hands right now with Michael playing so well, also Artem [Sitak] and Marcus,” said a gracious Butorac. “I hope the fans continue to support them.”
The champs finished with 20 winners to 21 unforced errors.
Canadian invited to annual celeb showdown
On February 12th, Milos Raonic will trade in his tennis shoes for a pair of basketball sneakers.
What an honour and amazing dream come true, I get to compete in the @NBA All Star Weekend. I will be playing in the Celeb Game.
— Milos Raonic (@milosraonic) January 14, 2016
The Thornhill, Ontario native has been tapped to join seven-time NBA All-Star Tracy McGrady, former pro Rick Fox and Canadian basketball star Natalie Achonwa in representing Team Canada at the All-Star Celebrity Game, held during the NBA’s All-Star Game weekend in Toronto. They will be coached by Canadian recording artist Drake, two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash and Toronto Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista.
Taking on Team Canada will be Team USA, coached by Kevin Hart and featuring actors Michael B. Jordan and Anthony Anderson, comedian Nick Cannon, former NBA players Chauncey Billups and Muggsy Bogues, and WNBA MVP Elena Delle Donne.
Murray/Soares to face Bopanna/Mergea in Sydney finale
Fourth seeds Eric Butorac and Scott Lipsky will look to win their third ATP World Tour team title after defeating Julian Knowle and Oliver Marach 6-1, 6-4 to reach the final of the ASB Classic in Auckland on Friday.
The Americans also triumphed in Estoril seven years ago and lifted the trophy at the end of last year in Valencia. In Saturday’s final they will face Croatian Mate Pavic and home favourite Michael Venus, who beat wild cards Marcus Daniell and Artem Sitak 6-2, 6-3.
“We finished last season strong, winning in Valencia, and are happy to get off to a great start early in 2016,” said Butorac. “Auckland is one of our favourite tournaments and the atmosphere on centre court is always electric. We know we won’t be the fan favourites in the final, but it will be a great experience nonetheless.”
Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares won two matches on Friday to reach their first ATP World Tour final together at the Apia International Sydney. The British/Brazilian duo defeated Australians Matt Reid and Jordan Thompson 6-4, 6-4 in the quarter-finals before later edging Polish pair Lukasz Kubot and Marcin Matkowski 7-5, 2-6, 10-3 in the semi-finals.
“It was a great win for us today,” said Murray, reacting to the semi-finals. “Bruno played some crazy points in the tie-break. I was just along for the ride! Conditions were very tough because it was so windy. It’s great to be in our first final so early in the season and we’re looking forward to getting out on centre court tomorrow and competing for a trophy.”
In the final they will face fourth seeds Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea, who defeated Thomaz Bellucci and Leonardo Mayer 7-6(8), 6-4 in 83 minutes. Bopanna and Mergea, who finished last season as runners-up at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals (l. to Rojer/Tecau), will challenge for their third title together.
“We’re really happy to reach the final here in Sydney. It’s our first tournament of the year and it’s indeed a great feeling,” said Bopanna, who won the title last year with Daniel Nestor. “We have been playing some confident tennis in the past few matches, so that’s a boost as a team.
“After the way we finished 2015, to start the season winning matches and having another shot at a title, it gives us a lot of confidence not only going into the final tomorrow, but also for the upcoming Grand Slam. Also, for me personally, it’s good to be back in the final and have the chance to retain my title.”