Novak Djokovic retained his Qatar Open title following a dramatic 6-3 5-7 6-4 defeat of Andy Murray.
The defending champion appeared to be heading for a straight-sets win in Doha before Murray saved three match points and took the tie to a decider.
Saturday's final was the first meeting between the two players since Murray overtook his rival to become world number one, but it was the Serbian who was celebrating at the end after he found an extra gear to clinch victory in a match lasting almost three hours.
"(It was) definitely one of the best ways to start the year," the champion told Eurosport 2. "After saving five match points and winning yesterday's semi-final, I had three or four match points in the second set.
"He turned it around, and I thought, 'Wow, I hope this is not payback time'.
"All the way to the last shot you never know with Andy, so it's no strange occurrence for both of us to play three sets for three hours.
"To start off the year with a win against number one in the world and your biggest rival is a dream start, so I'm hoping I can get the best out of it."
Grigor Dimitrov dumped defending champion Milos Raonic out of the Brisbane International to set up a final with Kei Nishikori.
Bulgarian Dimitrov won a tense first-set tie-break after saving a set point and then stormed through the second to clinch a 7-6 (9/7) 6-2 win against the Canadian top seed.
Japanese Nishikori also edged a first-set tie-break as he booked his spot in Sunday's final earlier in the day with a 7-6 (7/3) 6-3 victory over second seed Stan Wawrinka.
Elsewhere, Daniil Medvedev will play second seed Roberto Bautista Agut in the final of the Aircel Chennai Open.
Russian Medvedev came from a set down and saved a match point on his way to a 4-6 7-6 (7/2) 6-2 victory over Israeli Dudi Sela in the tournament's first semi-final.
Spaniard Bautista Agut then defeated France's B enoit Paire in more routine fashion, winning 6-3 6-3 in just over an hour.
Source: PA
