Andy Murray has moved through to the semi-finals of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship with a gruelling three-set victory over Feliciano Lopez in Abu Dhabi.
In an exhibition contest that lasted two hours 29 minutes, Murray saw four match points go by before finally beating Lopez 7-6 5-7 6-4 to set up a semi-final match with Rafael Nadal on Friday.
The first six games saw both players trade breaks before Murray dominated a tie-break to sweep into a one-set advantage.
Despite the match representing his first outing of the season, the Scot was displaying plenty of confidence, even finding an opportune moment to hit a left-handed winner down the line, much to the surprise of Lopez.
However, Murray's serve wasn't firing on all cylinders and in the 12th game of the set, Lopez capitalised to earn three break points, converting the second to take the match into a decider.
The opening eight games were shared before Murray struck in the ninth to give himself the chance to serve for the match, but two double faults and numerous errors ensured that Lopez wasn't without opportunities to extend the contest.
However, the 27-year-old finally got over the line to progress through to a clash with Nadal, who is making his return to action after appendix surgery.
Darren Plant
