He said it was “difficult to play with a metal hip” but that was in doubt this Friday, when the Scotsman Andy Murray saved five break points against Czech Jiri Lehecka, he won 6-0, 3-6 and 7-6 (6) and returned to a final of the ATP circuit in Doha.

The British, once number one in the world, have clung to the competition as usual. He was on the ropes but turned the tables to play one more final in Doha as happened in 2017, when he lost to Novak Djokovic, and in 2007, overtaken by Croatian Ivan Ljubicic.

“I have no idea how I turned this game around”said, smiling and exhausted, the man who was number 1 and is now 70th, a position that will improve in the standings from Monday, and who had never played with Lehecka (52nd).

“In the 5-4 game I think I played most of the match points very well and he missed a bad deuce in that game, but I think he played the match points quite well. Then the tiebreak was also very round and back -analysed-. It has been a fantastic start to the year. I’ve never experienced that in my entire career, like so many matches.”

During the press conference, Murray acknowledged that “this week too could have ended very differently.” “I had to save match points in the first round and I could have also lost to Zverev or lost tonight too. Although the way I played in the really important moments, in the critical moments, I have shown that there is a confidence and confidence in my game that I have lacked for a long time and I am very happy with it” he noted.

“This is not something I’ve done every week of my career. It’s something I’ve never experienced before, which is great for me to have these new experiences at this age. And at this point in my career. When people have asked me in recent years why I have continued to play or what I was trying to get from the last few years of my career, I think it was for moments like this in the big games in the last rounds of tournaments. There haven’t been many over the last few years, but I’ve kept working and believing in myself and my team and there’s no secret. Of course there is also a bit of luck. But above all, I work hard and I continue to believe in myself,” he concluded.

The 35-year-old Scotsman, who is aiming for his 47th title, won three Grand Slams and picked up two Olympic gold medals, arrived in Doha after receiving an invitation from the organizers and now awaits the winner of the match between the Russian Daniil Medvedev and the Canadian Felix Auger Aliassime in the final.

This is Murray’s first final of 2023. He hasn’t been in a title fight since losing in Stuttgart in May 2022 and Sydney in January 2022. Further ahead is his latest title, in Antwerp, in 2019.