Andy Murray has cruised to victory in his first competitive event of 2009, the Qatar Open in Doha.
In Saturday’s final, Murray brushed aside the challenge of Andy Roddick, beating the American 6-4 6-2 in little over an hour.
Shrugging off a back injury which had put his appearance in doubt, the British No.1 broke serve three times and always looked in control as he successfully defended the title he won for the first time in 2008.
En route to the final, Murray defeated Albert Montanes 6-2 6-4, Philipp Petzschner 6-2 6-4, Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-4 6-2 and Roger Federer 6-7(6) 6-2 6-2.
Murray now has nine career titles to his name and travels to Melbourne for the Australian Open full of confidence in search of his first Grand Slam title.