Andy Murray moved ever closer to securing his spot at the ATP World Tour Finals in London after saving five match points to overcome Tommy Robredo in the Valencia Open final.
Murray, who also beat the Spaniard in last month’s Shenzhen final, took three hours and 19 minutes to win 3-6 7-6 (9-7) 7-6 (10-8).
The Brit is now fifth in the standings for the World Tour Finals, with ninth place good enough to qualify, and just the Paris Masters remaining.
For Murray to miss out in the Race to London, he would need to be knocked out in the first round in France as well as have a number of other results go against him.
Against Robredo, Murray battled bouts of cramp and exhaustion and the relief on his face was palpable when he won the 31st ATP title of his career in the longest ATP final of 2014.
Robredo forced two match points in the second set tiebreak – squandering both – and had another three chances to secure the championship in the third but once again Britain’s number one saved them and eventually triumphed with a backhand winner down the line.
© Sportsbeat 2014