Sydney International: Jamie Murray & Bruno Soares lose in final
Britain’s Jamie Murray and Brazilian partner Bruno Soares lost to Dutch duo Wesley Koolhof and Matwe Middelkoop in the final of the Sydney International.
Murray and Soares won the title last year in only their second tournament as a doubles pairing.
But the top seeds were beaten 6-3 7-5 on Saturday, as Koolhof and Middelkoop won a third ATP trophy.
British number three Dan Evans will face Gilles Muller from Luxembourg in the singles final at 08:30 GMT.
Evans, the world number 67, is playing in his first ATP Tour final.
Elsewhere, American world number 23 Jack Sock won the final of the Auckland Classic with a 6-3 5-7 6-3 victory over Portugal’s Joao Sousa.
Sock’s victory comes after he was forced to retire because of illness in last year’s final against Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut.
Belgian qualifier Elise Mertens beat Romanian third seed Monica Niculescu to win the Hobart International for her first WTA title.
The 21-year-old, ranked 127 in the world, lost nine of her first 10 points before taking control to beat world number 40 Niculescu 6-3, 6-1.
The tournaments build up to the first Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open in Melbourne, which begins on Monday.