Andy Murray has collected his sixth title of 2009 on his comeback from injury at the ATP Valencia Open in Spain.
Having won a testing contest with Leonardo Mayer (ARG) in the second round and sealing a three set victory over home favourite Fernando Verdasco in the semi-finals, the British No.1 completed his return from a six week injury break by defeating Mikhail Youzhny (RUS), 6-3, 6-2.
The final clash between the World No.4 and the Russian promised to be an intriguing encounter with the pair contesting a close match in their only previous meeting in the semifinals of the event in St Petersburg two years ago.
On that occasion Murray sealed a third set tie break victory against the World No.23, who was ranked as highly as No.8 earlier this year and recently won the Kremlin Cup in Russia.
Murray started strongly again on this occasion, breaking his opponent early in the first set and again in the sixth game and despite a brief fightback from Youzhny, Murray fired a ferocious ace to claim the first set, 6-3.
The Briton continued his dominance at the start of the second set, breaking his opponent in the first and third game in which he punished his opponent’s second serve in emphatic fashion.
After opening up a commanding 5-2 lead, Murray completed the victory with another powerful ace to claim his fourteenth career title in a comeback that has provided ideal preparation for the ATP World Tour Finals in London later this month.
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