Andy Murray beats Feliciano López in Abu Dhabi with Rafael Nadal next up

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/jan/01/andy-murray-feliciano-lopez-abu-dhabi-rafael-nadal

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Andy Murray recorded a hard-fought victory over Feliciano López in the first round of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi. The 27-year-old battled for two and a half hours against his Spanish opponent, who was making his debut in the event, before winning 7-6, 5-7, 6-4 to set up a semi-final with Rafael Nadal on Friday.

Murray raced into a 3-1 lead in the first set, winning the fourth game with a cross-court backhand return off López’s serve before his opponent broke back to make it 3-3. The next six games went with serve, resulting in a tie-break, which the 2013 Wimbledon champion clinched 7-1. The second set also culminated in a tie-break which López won 7-5 to level the match.

Murray responded by breaking his opponent to secure the first game of the third set, while López in turn broke back and also took the next game to go 2-1 ahead. The Scot fought back, however, and battled to a 5-4 lead – before holding on to win his first competitive match of 2015.

Murray, who defeated the two-times winner Nadal in the final when the tournament was launched in 2009, told www.mubadalawtc.com: “I’ve played at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship a number of times now and I’ve always found it to be very good preparation, you always get a very good crowd. It’s a great way to start the year – to try and play some matches against the best players in the world – and it gets you very sharp for the beginning of the year.”

Meanwhile, Juan Martín del Potro has withdrawn from next week’s Brisbane International due to a persistent left wrist problem. The injury-ravaged 2009 US Open winner, who has not played since undergoing surgery last March, had hoped to return to competition in Brisbane in preparation for the Australian Open later this month. “I won’t surrender and I work every day to overcome each stone that appears in my path and so be able to play without niggles and enjoy competing again,” the Argentinian said on his Facebook page on Thursday.

The 26-year-old thanked his fans for their support during a difficult year after missing almost a whole season for the second time in his career. “I very much miss the to and fro with you all in a tennis court. Have a great 2015. I’ll see you soon,” Del Potro added.

The former world No4 plans to return a week later in Sydney to defend his title. “Last year I played some of my best tennis there and it is the perfect way to start the year. I am looking forward to being back in Sydney as it is one of my favourite cities to play. I remember there were a lot of Argentinian fans who came out to support me which was amazing.”

Del Potro is the second US Open champion to pull out of the Brisbane event in the past 48 hours following the withdrawal of Marin Cilic with a shoulder injury. The Croatian won his first grand slam when he claimed the Flushing Meadows title last year.

Despite losing two high-profile players, a strong field is expected for the tournament, including Roger Federer, Kei Nishikori, Milos Raonic and Grigor Dimitrov, who have all confirmed they will participate in Brisbane.