Andy Murray took a huge step towards sealing his place in the ATP World Tour finals as he beat top seed David Ferrer 6-4, 7-5 to reach the Valencia Open final yesterday.
Murray has put himself in prime position for a seventh consecutive appearance at the season-ending tournament in London with a run of 17 wins in his last 19 matches, including victory over Ferrer in the Austrian Open final last week.
The Scot and Ferrer are currently eighth and ninth in the race to London with four places still up for grabs following Rafael Nadal’s decision to withdraw to have his appendix removed on Friday.
Murray can move as high as fifth in the standings with his third title in little over a month when he faces Tommy Robredo in today’s final.
Robredo, the world number 21, defeated Jeremy Chardy of France 7-6 (9/7), 7-6 (7/2) in his semi-final.
“You do get an adrenaline rush playing in front of a big crowd,” said Murray, who lifted the Valencia title in 2009.
“Because of the way the match was today 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.”
Ferrer paid a generous tribute to Murray who leads Robredo 4-2 in their caree head-to-heads and Chardy by 5-1. “Murray served pretty well at first set and I couldn’t do anything,” said Ferrer.
“In the first set and part of second, he was better than me. Andy is a pretty good player. If you aren’t focused against him, you pay.”
One break of serve in the opening game of the match was enough for Murray to take the first set as he looked polished on serve to take it 6-4.
However, the second set was a rollercoaster as Murray appeared to be cruising to victory when he secured a double break to move ahead 3-0.
Willed on by the home crowd, though, Ferrer, a three-time champion in Valencia, bounced back to move 4-3 ahead.
Murray then had to save a break point to level at 4-4, but the match swung back in Murray’s favour when Ferrer fired long to leave the Scot serving for the match at 6-5.
And despite having to save three break points, Murray eventually closed it out with a thumping forehand winner.
