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 on Saturday.
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 final of the Austrian Open 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 Jeremy Chardy or Tommy Robredo in the final on Sunday.
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.
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