"I have never experienced this in my whole career" - Andy Murray lost for words after surviving yet another thriller to reach Qatar Open final
Andy Murray produced a terrific, gritty performance to book his place in the final of the Qatar Open in Doha. The Scot beat Jiri Lehecka 6-0, 3-6, 7-6(8) in 2 hours and 31 minutes.
Murray saved five match points in the third set before getting the better of the Czech and reaching his first final of the 2023 season.
While speaking in his post-match press conference, Andy Murray expressed his disbelief at turning the match around. He claimed that he played well on all the match points.
"Yeah, I mean, I just can't believe I managed — I don't know how I managed to turn that match around. I mean, I actually, in the 5-4 game, I think I played most of the match points really well. You know, he missed one bad shot on the deuce point in that game at 5-4, but, you know, played the match points pretty well," Murray said.
"Then, yeah, the tiebreak was very back-and-forth, as well. Just managed to come up with, you know, a great serve on the 6-all point. Although he probably should have made the volley on the match point, like, I hit a pretty tricky return off what was, you know, a great serve," he added.
Andy Murray has been through a lot of long matches so far this season. The Scottish star played a few matches that lasted for over four hours at the Australian Open and has faced a few lengthy fixtures in Doha also. The 35-year-old said that he did not experience these many long matches throughout his entire career.
"Yeah, just laughing because, yeah, it's been an amazing sort of start to the year. I have never experienced this in my whole career, like this many matches. You know, talking about it yesterday in the press, like, you know, at some stage, you know, there is going to be a quicker one or whatever," Murray said.
"It was sort of looking that way for 30 minutes and then turned into something completely different. Yeah, just amazing that I managed to turn that around," he added.
Andy Murray will face Daniil Medvedev in the Qatar Open final
After beating Lehecka, Andy Murray will take on Daniil Medvedev in the final of the Qatar Open. The Russian booked his place in the title clash with a 6-4, 7-6(7) win over Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Murray and Medvedev will lock horns for the third time, with the Russian leading 2-0 in the head-to-head. Their last meeting came at the Miami Masters, with Medvedev winning 6-4, 6-2.
Victory for Murray will see him win his first singles title since 2019 and 47th overall. If Medvedev wins, he will win his second successive title and 17th overall.