Andy Murray upset a few people in Dubai last week as he confirmed that his season was solely based on big performances in the Grand Slams when admitting that he was only using the Dubai Open as a training exercise.

Murray, runner-up in the Australian Open to Roger Federer, fell in the second round of the Doha event to Janko Tipsarevic to leave sponsors, who had also parted with a decent appearance fee to the Scot, open mouthed.

Murray claimed that his performance levels against the tricky Serbian player, who beat him 7-6 4-6 6-4, would have been different had it been a major tournament, bringing into question what can be expected from him in the run-up to the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open later in the summer.

James Ward, Dan Evans and Jamie Baker will compete for the two singles spots for Britain’s Davis Cup match against Lithuania in March.

World number three Andy Murray recently withdrew from the squad handing the youngsters the opportunity to shine as they look to arrest the slide of British tennis.

British number 2 Alex Bogdanovic was overlooked for the second year running in favour of the youngsters despite them all standing around 100 places below him in the World Rankings.

Doubles specialists Colin Fleming and Ken Shupski are also included in the squad as Britain attempts to win its first Davis Cup match since beating Croatia in their World Group play-off win in 2007. Since then the side has slumped to the third tier of the competition and the selectors are understood to be looking for a fresh start.

World number 288 Baker is the only player in the squad to have won a Davis Cup match. He defeated Argentina’s Agustin Calleri in a dead rubber in 2008.

World number Roger Federer clinched his 16th Grand Slam title after beating Britain’s Andy Murray 6-3 6-4 7-6 in the final of the Australian Open on Sunday.

The Swiss star avoided a fourth set encounter after winning the thrilling third set tiebreak 13-11.

Murray has been in the Grand Slam final twice. He’s been attempting to become the first British player to win a Grand Slam title for more than thirty years. The last Slam winner from his country was Fred Perry at the 1936 US Open.

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The highly anticipated Australian Open 2010 final match between top-ranked Roger Federer and fourth-seed Andy Murray takes place on Sunday, January 31. Federer easily eased past Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight sets during the semifinal match on Friday. Murray advanced after beating Marin Cilic of Croatia in four sets.

Federer and Murray have met ten times in the past, with the British number one leading the head-to-head match record at 6-4. However, Federer has the upper hand when it comes to the biggest stages. The two met at the 2008 US Open final in which the Swiss star emerged as the champion. Would Murray get his first ever Grand Slam title Down Under and set a record for his country?

Watch the Roger Federer vs Andy Murray Australian Open 2010 Final Live Video Streaming Match Coverage HERE.

World number four Andy Murray has a chance to make it to the Grand Slam final for the second time in his career but he has to get past Croatia’s Marin Cilic, who’s been impressive so far, at the Australian Open semifinals.

Murray currently leads the head to head match record with three wins to one loss. However, he won’t be taking this match lightly as Cilic currently enjoys a ten-match winning streak including a successful title defense in Chennai earlier this month.

Watch the Andy Murray vs Marin Cilic Australian Open 2010 Semifinals Live Video Streaming Match Coverage HERE.

Britain’s Andy Murray is still searching for his first career Grand Slam title and he has a fighting chance of doing so in this year’s Australian Open. In order to progress further in this tournament, he has to face six-time Slam winner and defending champion Rafael Nadal, who despite injury struggles, managed to make it to the final eight.

Murray eliminated John Isner of the United States in the fourth round in straight sets while Nadal outplayed big serving Croat Ivo Karlovic in four close sets.

The Britain’s number one player still lags in the head-to-head record at 2-7.

Watch the Rafael Nadal vs Andy Murray Australian Open 2010 Quarterfinals match live online [free video streaming] HERE.

Andy Murray of Britain cruised into the quarterfinals of the Australian Open after beating John Isner of the United States 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-2.

This served as Isner’s first loss in nine games. The big-serving American won five matches to win the Auckland title and the first three matches in Melbourne.

Murray’s next opponent could be defending champion Rafael Nadal of Spain. In order to make this possible, Nadal has to overcome Ivo Karlovic of Croatia.

In the women’s side, China’s Jie Zheng got the first quarterfinal berth after beating Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine.

Britain is making its first final appearance at the Hopman Cup after beating Russia in a tight semifinal encounter. World number four Andy Murray defeated Igor Andreev 61 60 to even up the match. Earlier in the day, Elena Dementieva defeated Laura Robson to put Russia in an early lead.

The doubles match sealed the victory for Britain as Murray and Robson recorded a 6-4, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (6) win over Andreev and Dementieva that put Britain into the championship.

“I didn’t make too many mistakes and I got off to a good start. It settled me down. Today was definitely the best I’ve played so far,” Murray said after the match.

Murray opted to skip the Qatar Open where he was a two-time defending champion in favor of this tournament, which he feels is a better tune-up for the Australian Open, which takes place less than two weeks from now.

Two-time champion Spain secured the final on Thursday after beating host country Australia.

After sustaining a wrist injury which prevented him from competing in the Asian leg of ATP events, world number four Andy Murray is back this week as the top seed of the Valencia Open.This tournament used to be played in claycourts before it transitioned into an indoor hardcourt tournament.

With 500 ATP points at stake for the champion, this tournament could change the fortunes of the players vying for the last two spots for the year-end Barclays World Tour Finals which will be held in London two weeks from now.

HEAD has come up with a creative Radical Messenger featuring British number one Andy Murray. This fun application features Murray discussing his newest racket – the Youtek Radical Pro. Plus, you can send cool messages to your friends using a virtual tennis ball! Don’t miss the other features of this application.

Britain’s Andy Murray made an early exit in this year’s US Open after he was beaten in the fourth round by Croatia’s Marin Cilic in straight sets 7-5, 6-2, 6-2. This upset loss means that Murray will lose the number two ranking next week. He reached the finals last year but lost to Roger Federer.

“I just struggled today. I played poorly. I could have been better in pretty much every part of the game, whether it was mental or serve, forehand, backhand, returns,” Murray said after the match.

Their impressive finishes for the past few weeks propelled Andy Murray of Great Britain and Elena Dementieva of Russia to clinch the top spots in men’s and women’s fields respectively after the fifth week of the US Open Series rankings.  With only the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament remaining, there’s a big possibility that these two players will emerge as winners after the sixth and final week. The winners will compete for the $1 million bonus prize money at next week’s US Open.