Andy Murray admits he had to call upon all his reserves of strength to clinch a maiden clay-court title by beating Philipp Kohlschreiber in the final of the Munich Open.
Rain caused the match to be postponed after just five games on Sunday, but upon Monday morning’s resumption, Murray battled his way to a 7-6 (7-4), 5-7, 7-6 (7-4) victory.
It was the 32nd title of the top seed’s career and he became the first Brit to win an ATP tournament on clay since Buster Mottram in 1976.
Home favourite Kohlschreiber triumphed at the event in both 2007 and 2012 but after a hard-fought opening set went to a tie-break, it was Murray who ultimately earned the decisive mini-break.
The German responded and soon levelled the match at one set apiece by breaking the world No.3’s serve in the 11th game of set two.
But Murray, with his wedding ring attached to his left shoe following his marriage last month, secured victory on his second match point when Kohlschrieber hit a backhand long.
The pair could meet again in the second round of the Madrid Masters on Wednesday but Murray was happy with a tricky job well done in Germany.
“It was a really tough match, he served very close to the line and I was getting frustrated,” said the 27-year-old.
“The rain made things really tough, but as a Scot I'm used to that.
“It's been a hard couple of days, so I am very happy to have won, especially on clay.
“I didn't realise I was the first Brit to win on clay for so long, so that's obviously an honour.”
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