An emotional Andy Murray thanked his lucky stars after saving five match points before beating Spain’s Tommy Robredo 5-7 7-6(9) 6-1 to win the Shenzhen Open in China yesterday – his first title since winning Wimbledon last year.

The two-time grand slam winner and Olympic champion appeared heading for an upset defeat when he trailed 6-2 in the second set tiebreak, only to reel off four straight points as Robredo tightened when on the brink of victory.

The pair both wasted chances to seal the set as they mixed glorious winners with nervy misses, with Robredo blowing a fifth match point at 7-6, before Murray eventually blasted an unstoppable forehand to take it 11-9 and force a decider.

World number 11 Murray then broke Robredo three times in the third with the Spaniard, also chasing a first win of the year, appearing hampered by injury as he failed to chase down balls.

“Today was obviously an incredibly tough match...and I got lucky at the end of the second set,” Murray said in a courtside interview.

“I fought hard and I tried my best and thankfully managed to turn it around. Tommy had a great tournament, he probably deserved to win the match today. He had the opportunities in the second set but sometimes that happens in sport.”

The victory at the $590,230 outdoor hardcourt event boosted Murray’s hopes of making a sixth appearance at the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London in November after he was forced to withdraw from the event last year through injury.

The 27-year-old Scot moved up to 10th by adding 250 points to his tally and is within 105 points of Czech Tomas Berdych in the eighth and final qualifying spot.

In Kuala Lumpur, Japan’s Kei Nishikori picked up his third title of a breakout year by downing France’s Julien Benneteau 7-6 (4) 6-4 in the Malaysian Open final.

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