Murray surpasses his own target with comeback victory in Valencia

ANDY Murray picked up his sixth title of the year and the 14th of his career with a comprehensive victory over Mikhail Youzhny at the inaugural Valencia Open.

The world No4, playing in his first tournament for nearly two months after recovering from a wrist injury, looked impressive throughout in a 6-3, 6-2 win over the Russian.

Murray, whose last title came at the Masters event in Canada in August, can now celebrate winning six titles in one season for the first time in his career.

The pair had played only once before, in St Petersburg in 2007, with Murray winning in three sets before going on to take the title.

Youzhny is unpredictable and, although his impressive single-handed backhand was in evidence in the early stages, he came unstuck in the fourth game as Murray gained an early break.

The Scot was well in control by now and it was no surprise when he broke again for a 5-1 lead courtesy of another error from Youzhny.

The Russian put up more of a fight in the next game and retrieved one of the breaks when his opponent shanked a forehand after a long baseline rally.

Murray made no mistake second time round, though, clinching the first set with an ace.

Youzhny, ranked 23rd in the world, has been in good form, reaching the final in Tokyo last month and then winning his fifth ATP World Tour title at home in Moscow. But he was immediately under pressure at the start of the second set and could not prevent Murray picking up another break.

The Russian simply could not generate any degree of dominance on his serve and he quickly found himself two breaks behind at 3-0.

Youzhny had two chances to break back in the next game but Murray held firm, although the 27-year-old did manage to get his name on the scoreboard in his next service game.

It was merely delaying the inevitable, however, and an ace sealed a most dominant of victories for the British No 1.

Murray admitted the victory was more comfortable than he had anticipated, saying: "Both of us had long matches on Saturday. I knew the start of the match was going to be important and I started well, going up 5-1 pretty quickly.

"I'd say it was a little easier than I had expected but he is a tough player."

The Scot was delighted to pick up a trophy on his return to action and feels he is hitting peak form in time for the Paris Masters next week. "It was a very, very good week," he continued. "It is very rare for someone to win a tournament after a long break. I am happy I have come back from the injury well and played better with every match.

"I didn't have high expectations this week but with every round and match you get more confident. I felt good with the way I was hitting the ball."

Youzhny, meanwhile, admitted he was not at his best but was happy with his week's work.

"He played well but I was not really fresh after Saturday," said the Russian. "It was a good week at the end of the season. I was lucky against (Jo-Wilfried) Tsonga in the first round, when he pulled out, but after that every match was tough. I could not be 100 per cent fresh for the final but Andy played well and didn't give me any chances."

Meanwhile, World No3 Novak Djokovic ended Roger Federer's winning run at his home-town tournament to lift the Davidoff Swiss Indoors title in Basel. The world No1 was looking to win a fourth consecutive title in front of his adoring fans, but Djokovic spoiled the party with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 victory.