FILE PHOTO: Tennis – China Open – Men’s Singles – Quarterfinals – National Tennis Center, Beijing, China – October 4, 2019. Britain’s Andy Murray in action against Dominic Thiem of Austria. REUTERS/Jason Lee/File Photo
(Reuters) – Andy Murray took a step closer to a first title in arguably the toughest year of his playing career, grinding out a 3-6 7-5 6-2 win over Ugo Humbert on Saturday to reach the final of the European Open in Antwerp.
Former world number one Murray returned to singles action on the ATP Tour in August following a career-saving hip resurfacing surgery in January and will look to lift his first trophy since 2017 in Sunday’s final.
Standing in the 32-year-old’s way is Swiss Stan Wawrinka, who swatted aside Italian teenager Jannik Sinner 6-3 6-2 to advance to the title clash.
Three-times Grand Slam champion Murray will take inspiration from his better head-to-head record against Wawrinka, having won 11 of their 19 previous meetings, including the last one in Eastbourne a year ago.
Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru, editing by Pritha Sakar