GOLF | Page 5 NBA | Page 6 Moore, Warriors To Advertise here Thomas blow away Call: 444 11 300, 444 66 621 set pace at 24-point Kapalua lead to lose Sunday, January 8, 2017 CRICKET Rabia Il 10, 1438 AH Ex-Pakistan GULF TIMES players call for captain Misbah to retire SPORT Page 7 TENNIS Djoko lays down marker for the year with epic win Serbia’sS bi ’ DDjokovicj k i makesk an iimmense statementt t t iin hhisi bbidid tto rulel men’s’ ttennisi againi withith a 66-3,3 55-7,7 66-44 victoryi t over Andyy Murray,y, the man who deposedp him as world number one,, in a stirringg QQatar ExxonMobil Openp final. By Joe Koraith he added. Doha Murray came very close to claiming the tro- phy himself and he chose to take the positives from this battle. re you not entertained! That’s what “It’s a tough one to lose but it’s a great way one can imagine both the fi nalists of to start the New Year. We played a high level of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open yelling at tennis. Some of the points were physically tough the spectators after producing a block- but I could not have asked for a better start the Abuster of a performance. season, playing like that. I am looking forward to When the tournament began, all the talk was the next few weeks,” said the Brit. about a dream fi nal between Andy Murray and When the match began, it immediately sent Novak Djokovic. But nobody could have imag- off signals that this was going to be an epic con- ined the high-octane gladiator-like battle both test. The rallies were long, right from the fi rst these players put up yesterday. The tussle that game and both players were hitting well. In fact, ended just six minutes short of three hours, the fi rst game itself lasted fi ve minutes and 38 swung one way and then the other and then the seconds. That set the tone for the match. Djoko- other way back again for Djokovic to claim a vic closed out the fi rst set after breaking Mur- memorable 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 victory. ray in the eighth game but not before getting a It was a fi tting fi nale to the 25th anniversary of warning from the chair umpire for hitting a ball the tournament here at the Khalifa International into the stands. The world No. 2 won 13 of the Tennis Complex. This was the fi rst time that the last 16 points to snuff out Murray’s challenge. world No. 1 and 2 were playing in a fi nal here in In the second set, Djokovic broke Murray in Doha. Djokovic was the defending champion the seventh game and looked on course to claim but he had lost his number one ranking to Mur- the set and the match. But despite getting three ray last year and was keen to send a message to match points, Djokovic couldn’t close out the his rival. match and Murray broke back and went on to Which he did, with an emphatic perform- win the second set and draw level. The Serb was ance. But with a match that ran so close, Mur- rattled by the grit shown by Murray and even ray shouldn’t feel disappointed. In fact, this was suff ered a points penalty for smashing the rac- a rare occasion, if not the only one, where one quet on the court. saw Murray smile after the match, when shaking The momentum had swung towards Mur- hands with Djokovic. “It is defi nitely one of the ray but in the third set, the world No. 1 lost his best ways to start the New Year,” said Djokovic serve in the seventh game, giving Djokovic a 3-4 after his memorable win. lead. This time too, with the Serb serving for the During his semi-fi nal against Fernando Ver- match, Murray got a two-point advantage. But dasco, Djokovic had saved fi ve match points to Djokovic didn’t let this opportunity go waste script a remarkable comeback. Yesterday, Mur- and sealed victory on his fourth match point. ray managed to save three match points and it “This win means to a lot to me. In the last looked like Djokovic would be given a taste of his three months of 2016, I didn’t play that consist- own medicine but thankfully for the Serb, his- ent. And to start the year against a win against tory didn’t repeat itself. the No. 1 in world and my biggest rival is a dream “After saving fi ve match points and win- start to 2017,” said Djokovic. ning the semi-fi nal and when I had three match The world No. 2 was the defending champion points in the second set and Murray turned it and said that the Falcon Trophy inspired him to do around, I thought, I hoped, it was not payback well in Doha. “I was saying during the closing cer- time,” said Djokovic. emony last year that my grandfather, who passed “Andy was close. All the way to the last shot away a few years ago, used to call me a falcon. And you never know with Andy. This is no strange so the falcon is one of my favourite birds. I guess occurrence for the both of us to play three sets that’s something that keeps me going, keeps me for three hours. It was a very physical battle and motivated to play well in Qatar,” he said. All in all, both of us are going to need a little bit of time to one couldn’t have asked for a better way to cel- recover from that and get ready for Melbourne,” Novak Djokovic (left) poses with the winner’s trophy after beating Britain’s Andy Murray in the Qatar ExxonMobil Open final yesterday. PICS: Jayan Orma ebrate the 25th anniversary of this iconic event. Djokovic and Murray with Qatar Tennis Federation president Nasser al-Khelaifi (3rd right), former QTF chief Ali Alfardan (third from left) and other off icials and dignitaries. Gulf Times 2 Sunday, January 8, 2017 TENNIS ON A ROLL Almost perfect Pliskova demolishes Cornet AFP Pliskova stands at 1.86 metres tall I think she didn’t give me a chance to Brisbane and has one of the most eff ective serves get back in the match. She was just too in the women’s game. good for me tonight.” She sent down four aces in the fi rst As a result of the win, Pliskova will arolina Pliskova stamped set and three in the second and was able leapfrog Dominika Cibulkova to be- herself as a major contender to serve her way out of trouble on the come world number fi ve when the next for the Australian Open with few occasions Cornet was able put any rankings are released tomorrow. She a 6-0, 6-3 demolition of pressure on her, winning 91% of her will likely be one of the favourites to win KFrance’s Alize Cornet in the fi nal of the fi rst serves. the Australian Open and go one better Brisbane International yesterday. “She’s serving really, really well,” Cor- than her runner-up eff ort to Angelique The third-seeded Czech played al- net said. “I played Serena a few times, and Kerber at last year’s US Open. most perfect tennis in the fi rst set, rac- I was always able to return a fi rst serve. However, Pliskova said a good week ing through it in just 18 minutes with the “Against Karolina, it’s impossible to in Brisbane didn’t mean a Grand Slam shell-shocked Cornet only winning fi ve read it. That’s the toughest thing ever. She title was inevitable, although she also points. Cornet didn’t get on the board has always the same toss. She just guides wouldn’t rule it out. until she held serve in the fi rst game of it with the wrist wherever she wants.” “I would not say it’s easy to win a the second set, which drew almost the Pliskova’s groundstrokes were also (Grand Slam) tournament — there are loudest cheer of the night from the full devastating, often keeping the unseed- still two more matches than in normal house at the Pat Rafter Arena. ed Cornet pinned deep in the court. tournaments,” she said. But while the Frenchwoman recovered Cornet said Pliskova’s experience “And there’s going to be harder op- in the second set, Pliskova was far too in big fi nals was telling. “She has a lit- ponents than I had this week. strong and took the match in just 66 min- tle bit more experience at this stage in “Also, the important thing is the utes on her second championship point. this kind of a tournament,” Cornet said. draw. I need to have some players which Pliskova said she felt in control from “She started the match really strongly, I like, which is also important in a Grand the moment she got on court. “I didn’t returning well, serving very, very well, Slam, to just have a little bit of luck with miss almost the whole fi rst set,” she said. making a lot of aces and being super- the draw. But, I mean, anything is pos- “Yeah, I was feeling pretty good today.” aggressive. I was a little bit tense, but sible.