Andy Murray gave his chances of reaching the ATP World Tour Finals in London a massive boost as he beat his close rival David Ferrer in straight sets to reach the final of the Valencia Open.
With ninth place in the world rankings good enough to make the season finale in London next month, Murray has taken part in a busy schedule of tournaments in recent week to boost his points.
The most recent of those is the Valencia Open and he came up against Spaniard Ferrer in the semi-final on Saturday.
The duo have played each other three times in as many weeks, with Murray getting the best of him in last weekend’s Vienna Open in their most recent encounter.
And it was a similar tale this time around as he won 6-4, 7-5 to set up a final showdown against either Tommy Robredo or Jeremy Chardy.
Victory would move Murray up to fifth in the Race to London and all but secure his spot, although he is also down to contest next week’s Paris Masters.
"After the US Open I was aware that I would need to win a lot of matches to try to reach the Tour Finals,” said Murray.
“So it was important for me to try and get as many matches as I can against the top players between now and the end of the year.
“You do get an adrenaline rush playing in front of a big crowd. Because of the way the match was against Ferrer there was a lot of very important points as well so the crowd were very engaged in the match and it was a great atmosphere.”
© Sportsbeat 2014