Three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray said the "law of averages" had finally swung in his favour after he saved five match points to defeat Jiri Lehecka at the Qatar Open on Friday and reach a first ATP Tour final since June last year.
Wild card Murray beat his Czech opponent 6-0, 3-6, 7-6, fighting back from 5-3 down in the decider. He will face third seed Daniil Medvedev in the final after the Russian beat Canada's second-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 7-6.
The 35-year-old Briton has shown great resilience during his run to the showpiece match in Doha and his latest victory was his fourth three-set win in four games, which included comeback wins over Lorenzo Sonego and Alexandre Muller.
Asked how he managed to close out the narrow victories, Murray pointed to learning from defeats last season, telling reporters: "One of the great things about the scoring system in this sport is things can change very quickly.
"I had multiple conversations with my team in the middle to the end part of last year, and I lost lots of close matches.
"I said, 'As soon as I start winning some, then that's going to change quickly because of the law of averages, really, like I couldn't keep losing that many matches'.
"If I kept working hard and kept improving just a little bit, then those matches would change. So I'm glad that I was right with that, and I hope it continues."
The former world number one added that navigating a way out of so many tricky situations in a short timespan had bolstered his self-belief.
"There is a certain calmness to those situations, because you have been in them a lot in a short period of time. You know how you need to try and play and it becomes a little bit of a habit," Murray said.
"Maybe it's a little bit in the back of the opponent's mind, as well. There have been periods where someone like Novak [Djokovic] has come back from very difficult situations, and it has appeared that players think about it a little when they are getting close to the finish line.
"That's something that I'm feeling a bit just now, and obviously I will try to keep that going."
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
The%20specs
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The bio
Job: Coder, website designer and chief executive, Trinet solutions
School: Year 8 pupil at Elite English School in Abu Hail, Deira
Role Models: Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk
Dream City: San Francisco
Hometown: Dubai
City of birth: Thiruvilla, Kerala
Naga
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Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Squid Game season two
Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Stars: Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon and Lee Byung-hun
Rating: 4.5/5
GIANT REVIEW
Starring: Amir El-Masry, Pierce Brosnan
Director: Athale
Rating: 4/5
More on animal trafficking
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest
Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.
Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.
Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.
Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.
Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.
Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia
