Andy Murray reaches first final at Dubai Championships

Andy Murray has solidified his grip on the world No. 4 ranking as he makes a quick turnaround after reaching his first final at the ATP 500 Dubai Championships. Murray, who won Brisbane to start the season, achieved a career best in the emirate as he moved to the title match with a revenge win over fellow HEAD player Novak Djokovic. Murray was on his game in a 6-2, 7-5 defeat of the world No. 1. Murray, swinging his YouTek Radical Pro, is aiming to make a further move upwards in California following after going down 7-5, 6-4 in the Dubai final to Roger Federer.

The Scot was pleased with his form against Djokovic, who had won all ten of his 2012 matches. "It wasn't an amazing standard. I still think I could've played better as well. I'm sure Novak feels the same. So that's actually a good sign for me that maybe not playing my best, best tennis I could still win against him."

In Delray Beach, Florida, South African Kevin Anderson won his third career title in an all HEAD final beating the Australian qualifier Marinko Matosevic 6-4, 7-6 (7-2). Matosevic had to fight hard in the semi final, to overcome the longest match of the week (2.54 hours) against HEAD fellow Dudi Sela from Israel 5-7, 6-4, 7-6. Anderson, who plays with a YouTek Prestige MP, lifted the trophy after nearly two hours. "Both of us were a little nervous at the start of match, so I had to find my rhythm," said Anderson. "I think at the end, I felt I was mentally composed throughout the tournament. I didn’t let any patches of bad tennis affect my mindset."

Anderson, who attended university in the US, was pleased to pick up victory in his second homeland., "It feels fantastic. It's my first one in the United States, which is great. I feel apart from South Africa, this is my new home."

Italian top seed Roberta Vinci (YouTek IG Extreme Pro) got to the Acapulco WTA semi-finals in Mexico before losing 6-4, 6-1 to compatriot Sara Errani.
Murray and Djokovic now have it all to play for in Indian Wells and Miami as the first two Masters 1000 tournaments of the season unfold this month on opposite ends of the US I had a great week, I had some good wins," said Murray after the Dubai final. "The conditions over in Indian Wells, Miami are going to be very, very different to here: A much slower court, which hopefully will suit my game a little bit better."

Djokovic has set Indian Wells in the Californian desert as his next objective as he defends both titles in Indian Wells and Miami. "I'm looking forward to Indian Wells and Miami as the next challenges. I think I have more than enough time to get ready for it.