VALENCIA: Andy Murray saved five match points before fighting back to beat Tommy Robredo 3-6, 7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (10-8) in a gruelling Valencia Open final on Sunday and secure valuable points for his World Tour finals bid.

The marathon battle at the cathedral-like Agora arena, at three hours and 20 minutes the longest final of the year on the ATP World Tour, was a repeat of last month’s Shenzhen Open showpiece, when Murray fought off five match points against the Spaniard on the way to a 5-7, 7-6 (11-9), 6-1 success.

This time, he had to do it in front of Robredo’s home fans, who ended up applauding the effort made by both players on Valencia’s indoor hard court.

“Unbelievable match, [he’s a] great fighter,” said an exhausted Murray. “He’s 32 now and in unbelievable shape, he’s still improving. I don’t know what else to say, but I have a lot of respect for you and I’m sorry about today.”

A wildcard at the Valencia indoor hardcourt event, which he won in 2009, third seed Murray produced an erratic display against unseeded Robredo but had just enough in the tank to claim a 31st career singles title.

After thumping a backhand winner to seal victory, the Scot, who squandered a match point earlier in the third set, collapsed to the floor and barely had enough strength to get to the net to greet his equally exhausted opponent.

The win earned Murray, playing his 20th match in five weeks having also won in Vienna this month, a further 200 points and lifted him to fifth in the race to secure a spot at the season-ending eight-man Tour finals in London.

Along with Kei Nishikori, David Ferrer, Tomas Berdych, Milos Raonic and Grigor Dimitrov, he will be looking to secure one of the four remaining berths at this week’s Paris Masters.

“I played well at the right moments,” Murray told reporters. “The tennis at the end and in the second set was high level.”

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2014