Novak Djokovic withstood a comeback from Sir Andy Murray to defend his Qatar Open title and end the Briton's winning streak of 28 consecutive ATP Tour matches.
Murray remains world number one despite the 6-3 5-7 6-4 defeat by the Serbian world number two.
The Scot saved three match points to come from a set and a break down to win the second set and level the match.
But Djokovic broke in game seven of the decider to win in two hours 54 minutes.
Both players now head to Melbourne for the Australian Open, the year's first Grand Slam, which starts on 16 January.