[Source: Mubadala World Tennis Championship/twitter]

Former World number 1 Andy Murray was unable to cap a strong week in the Middle East with a win.

This follows his loss in the Mubadala World Tennis Championship final in straight sets to Andrey Rublev.

The Russian world number five won 6-4 7-6 (7-2) to secure the title at the exhibition event in Abu Dhabi.

Watch until the end 😅 @AndreyRublev97 #MWTC #MakeWayForTheBest pic.twitter.com/dFcrQsNVxI

— Mubadala World Tennis Championship (@MubadalaWTC) December 18, 2021

Murray had beaten fellow Briton Dan Evans and 20-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal to reach the final.

Rublev controlled much of the first set and got the decisive break of serve in the fifth game.

Murray is preparing to play in the Australian Open for the first time since 2018 with the first Grand Slam of 2022 starting in Melbourne on 17 January.

[Source:BBC Sport]