Dan Evans and Jamie Murray were unable to head into next week’s Australian Open with a trophy in their baggage after losing their respective Sydney International singles and doubles finals.
The former was appearing in his first ever ATP Tour final after an impressive week in the Australian capital, but he came up against a determined opponent in Gilles Muller.
At 33, Muller was the highest-ranked player on the tour never to have won a singles title but he was finally able to bring that run to an end in his sixth final appearance, winning 7-6 6-2 against Evans.
It was still an encouraging outing for Evans who is already guaranteed to climb to a new career-high ranking just outside the top 50, on Monday, while he takes on Argentine Facundo Bagnis in the first round of the Australian Open next week.
“Well done to Gilles, I was hoping it was going to be six losses in finals but it wasn't to be,” said Evans.
Murray meanwhile was unable to successfully defend his Sydney International title alongside Bruno Soares, after losing to Wesley Koolhof and Matwe Middelkoop.
The latter were the last two players to accept their place in the doubles draw but were left as the last ones standing after defeating the top seeds 6-3 7-5 in Saturday’s final.
Murray now turns his attention to Melbourne Park and defending the Australian Open title he and Soares won 12 months ago.
Sportsbeat 2017