What a week of tennis in Qatar. We were treated to as much drama as you can pack within a few days of tennis.

In the end, Daniil Medvedev prevailed in an entertaining and competitive final against a resurgent Andy Murray. Although Medvedev captured the tournament, Murray captured more hearts on his way to the final.

In all Murray spent 10 hours on the court in his first four matches, and took out Sonego, Zverev, Muller, and Lehecka in the process. He also saved three match points against Zverev and five against Lehecka. They were formidable comebacks and a testament to Murray’s resilience and “never say die” attitude. This performance in Qatar comes on the heels of another outstanding showing at the Australian Open where he delivered two classic five-setters against Berrettini and Kokkinakis.

Murray started the week ranked 66 and will now be ranked 52 in the world. This means that he’ll now be seeded at smaller tournaments. This will help him continue to go deep in draws at the smaller tournaments which will become important as he looks to accumulate points to help get seeded at the bigger tournaments. If Murray keeps winning week in and week out, it is very likely we’ll see him in the top 20 by the end of the year.

As for Medvedev, he cruised through the draw rather easily, beating Auger-Aliassime and Murray along the way. This is his second straight tournament win. Last week he won Rotterdam. Pretty impressive for a player that has been lacking in confidence as of late. If indeed Medvedev has regained the form that saw him capture the 2021 US Open, the rest of the field should be prepared for the second coming of Daniil Medvedev.

Medvedev and Murray now will head to the Mexican Open and Dubai before landing at Indian Wells and the Miami Open in March. That means roughly 2,500 points will be up for grabs. The way these two are playing, I wouldn’t be surprised to see either of them going deep at all these tournaments and collecting valuable points!

Like always, don’t forget to jump on to the TennisPAL app to stay up to date on tennis news, find groups of friends to play with, and get a virtual coach to help with your tennis game.