Andy Murray wins Abu Dhabi title after Novak Djokovic pulls out of final

Andy Murray picked up his first trophy of the season without having to play the final after Novak Djokovic withdrew ahead of their match in Abu Dhabi because of illness.

Djokovic had looked in fine form in brushing aside Stanislas Wawrinka in the semi-finals of the exhibition Mubadala World Tennis Championship on Friday. But the defending champion and world No1 revealed on Saturday he had been suffering from a fever.

“I’ve been sick today with a fever and I’m not fit to play,” Djokovic said. “I said after my match last night, the crowds here have shown their love of tennis again this year and always inspire me to play my best so I am hugely disappointed not to be able to play for them tonight. I’m really disappointed not be able to take my chance of winning the trophy here again. Congratulations to Andy, it’s a shame I couldn’t play him today but I’m sure we will meet again soon.”

Djokovic’s withdrawal denied Murray the chance to follow his thrashing of Rafael Nadal in the last four with another confidence-boosting win over one of his biggest rivals. However, it may also prove to be a blessing for Murray, who felt pain in his left shoulder during his 6-2, 6-0 win over Nadal.

“I don’t know exactly what happened,” Murray told reporters at the tournament. “I’ve never had anything happen to my left shoulder before. It’s pretty sore and at the end of the match when I was reaching out to sign autographs it was quite painful. I’m going to have an ultrasound scan to check and see if there’s anything there or not then I’ll see what happens after that.”

Provided the scan does not show anything untoward, Murray will continue his preparations for the Australian Open at the Hopman Cup in Perth next week. Murray will join Heather Watson to represent Great Britain at the mixed team event, with their opening match due to be against France on Monday.

Murray took to the court to collect his trophy and said he is hoping to play in the Hopman Cup. “It’s unfortunate that Novak wasn’t feeling well,” he said. “It happens. I go over to Australia tonight to play my next event and hopefully I can keep it going.”

Nadal secured his first victory of the season by beating Wawrinka 7-6, 6-3 to claim third place. The world No3 looked understandably rusty against Murray having not played a match since 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.