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Former world No. 1 Andy Murray congratulated Aslan Karatsev following their Sydney final clash. Murray, who received a wildcard for Sydney, stood no chance against Karatsev as the Russian won 6-3 6-3 to start his season with a title.
Murray, now ranked at No. 135 in the world, was playing his first ATP final since 2019. "I'd like to congratulate Aslan on a fantastic week. I know he also arrived here late in Australia, he was recovering from COVID, so even more impressive to come back straight away and play at that level.
Good job and all the best for the Aussie Open," Murray said after receiving the runner-up trophy, per the ATP website. "I'd like to thank my team who are here for all of their help this week. It's my first time back in the finals for three years, it's been a long road to get back here but I couldn't have done it without all of your help so thank you."
Murray enjoyed his Sydney debut
Murray, 34, beat Viktor Durasovic, Nikoloz Basilashvili, David Goffin and Reilly Opelka en route to making the Sydney final in his debut at the tournament.
"... I'd also like to say thank you to everyone who put the event on, this is my first time in Sydney, you did a fantastic job. It's not easy times just now to run events but I really enjoyed it so thanks so much to everyone for putting this event on," Murray added.
"Finally, to all of you who came out to support tonight, what an amazing atmosphere to play in, thank you, it was so good. I've really missed playing in front of these sorts of crowds and these sorts of matches. Unfortunately the result didn't go my way tonight but I'll keep trying my best to come back and have more nights like this."