ANDY Murray admitted to feeling a bit of pressure as he overcame early nerves to beat Fernando Verdasco in the final of the Dubai Duty Free Championships.

The world No 1, who was runner-up in 2012, looked to have left his game in the locker room as he was broken twice at the start of the match

Yet a strong recovery saw him seal a 6-3, 6-2 victory over the Spaniard and collect his first title of the year.

"It's nice to win and I played much better as the match went on," said Murray.

"I started a little bit slow but I was solid. I wasn't afraid to attack his forehand side. He's got one of the best forehands but I tried to move him around the court as much as I could.

"I defended pretty well and moved well. I served a lot better as the match went on. It was obviously good to win the first tournament here.

"Maybe it could have been a bit of nerves. The previous day I didn't feel particularly nervous but sometimes in a final there is a bit more pressure. You're playing for something and sometimes you want to start a little bit quicker."

Errors littered the opening few games as both players struggled to hold their serve. Two double faults from Murray gifted Verdasco an early break but the Briton hit back immediately by taking the first of three break points when his opponent found the net with a weak return.

Murray's serve continued to falter in game three, where another double fault presented two more break points to Verdasco. The Spaniard took advantage when the Scot pushed a forehand wide before overturning a 0-30 deficit in his own service game to go 3-1 up.

The recovery began when Murray finally held serve in game five and the scores were levelled when he unleashed a winning cross-court backhand in the next for another break.

Murray made it three games in a row and then four, hitting back from 0-40 down on the Verdasco serve to open up a 5-3 lead before successfully serving out the set.

He continued to put Verdasco to the sword in the second set, securing a break of serve in the third game with another devastating forehand.

Murray was very much in his stride now and, although Verdasco managed to claw his way out of trouble to hold his next service game, it seemed only a matter of when, not if, the top seed would seal the win.

The answer came in the seventh game when another unforced error from Verdasco gifted Murray a 5-2 advantage and the chance to serve out for the title, which the Briton did with ease.

Murray's next tournament is the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, which begins on March 9.

It is a tournament he has never won before but he hopes to carry his form from Dubai into the first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event of the year.

Murray said: "The conditions are totally different there. Indian Wells is a very slow court with fast balls and the other way around here, fast court with quite slow balls, so obviously I have to get there and adjust to that.

"But winning this week is fantastic and obviously winning matches builds confidence."