27 Oct 2008

Murray beats Golubev to defend St Petersburg crown

12:56 pm on 27 October 2008

Britain's Andy Murray beat qualifier Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan in straight sets to successfully defend his title at the $1.79 million St Petersburg Open in Russia.

Murray, the top seed and currently fourth in the world, beat 150th ranked Golubev 6-1 6-1 in just 56 minutes to clinch his second consecutive title and fifth of the season.

In Austria, Ana Ivanovic claimed her first title since she lifted the French Open trophy in June, beating second seed Vera Zvonareva of Russia 6-2 6-1 to win the Linz Open.

It was the top-seeded Serbian's third title this year and came after a dramatic slump that followed her Paris victory and rise to number one in the world rankings.