Mubadala World Tennis Championship: Novak Djokovic withdrawal hands Andy Murray Abu Dhabi title as Nadal secured his first victory of the season to claim third place

 

Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from his final against Andy Murray at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship.

Djokovic was due to take on Murray for the title in the pre-season exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi, but the world No 1 came down with a fever after beating Stan Wawrinka in the last four.

Murray took to the court to collect his trophy and confirmed he is planning to play alongside Heather Watson in next week's Hopman Cup.

Speaking on Eurosport, the Scot said: "It's unfortunate that Novak wasn't feeling well. It happens.

"I go over to Australia tonight to play my next event and hopefully I can keep it going."

Meanwhile, Nadal secured his first victory of the season by beating Wawrinka 7-6 (7/1) 6-3 to claim third place.

The world No 3 looked understandably rusty against Murray having not played a match since before undergoing an appendectomy at the start of November.

This was a sharper performance and Nadal will have more opportunities to tune up for the year's first grand slam when he defends his title at the Qatar Open in Doha next week. ...SkySports