Murray extends streak in Doha

World No 1 Sir Andy Murray extended his winning streak to 25 matches with an opening-round victory over Frenchman Jeremy Chardy at the Qatar Open on Tuesday.

Murray, who has been honoured with a knighthood in the New Year Honours list after a superb 2016, continued his momentum on court by seeing off Chardy 6-0 7-6 (7-2) in convincing fashion.

Olympic and Wimbledon champion Murray, bidding for a third Doha title after wins in 2008 and 2009, will play Austrian left-hander Gerald Melzer in the second round and remains on track for a collision course with Novak Djokovic in the final on Saturday. 

In his first competitive match of the year, the 29-year-old Scot dropped seven points in an unerring first-set display, which he won with a bagel.

Chardy, ranked 69, broke serve at the start of the second set and although he dropped his own immediately, he pushed Murray hard for the rest of the match on a warm desert evening.

Twice Pau-born Chardy held serve to stay in the match and stretched Murray into a tie-break, but the pressure eventually told on the Frenchman as Murray completed a useful workout when Chardy sent a forehand volley …

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