Murray blasts Youzhny for Valencia title

Published online on Saturday, Nov. 07, 2009

Andy Murray of Scotland captured his sixth title of 2009 with a straight-set victory over Russia's Mikhail Youzhny in the final of the Valencia Open.

The top-seeded Murray posted a 6-3, 6-2 victory on Sunday in a mere 69 minutes to improve to 6-1 in ATP finals this year. His six tournament titles are the most on tour.

"It is very rare for someone to win a tournament after a long break," said Murray, who had not played on the ATP Tour since the U.S. Open because of a wrist injury. "I am happy I have come back from the injury well and played better with every match. I didn't have high expectations this week, but with every round and match you get more confident. I felt good with the way I was hitting the ball."

In addition to Sunday's crown, Murray also won in Doha, Rotterdam and Miami early in the year, while capturing the titles at the Queens Club and Montreal in the summer. His only loss in a final came against Rafael Nadal in Indian Wells.

The 22-year-old Murray claimed his 14th career ATP title and improved to 12-0 this year at indoor tournaments.

Youzhny fell to 5-7 lifetime in ATP finals, including 1-3 this year. He won the Moscow crown two weeks ago after losing title matches in Tokyo and Munich.

Murray broke Youzhny's serve twice in the opening set, then opened a 4-0 lead in the second before cruising to the title.

"I knew the start of the match was going to be important and I started well, going up 5-1 pretty quickly," said Murray. "I'd say it was a little easier than I had expected, but he is a tough player."

This was just the second meeting between the two. Murray won the first two years ago in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Murray claimed a first prize of $479,445.