ANDY MURRAY slumped to the court in exhaustion after beating Tommy Robredo in the Valencia Open Final to all-but secure his place at the ATP World Tour Finals.

The Scot saved five match points in an epic match he eventually won 3-6 7-6 7-6.

And his refusal to concede defeat led to his Spanish opponent offering him a jokey two-fingered obscene "salute" as the shattered pair embraced at the net.

That light-hearted scene came after a marathon that lasted three hours and 20 minutes - the longest final on the world tour this year.

The victory moves Murray up to fifth in the Race to London standings, with ninth place enough to qualify and only one event remaining of the regular season, this week's Paris Masters.

Afterwards Murray said: "It was an incredible match.

"The tennis at the end and in the second set was of a high level. I played well at the right moments.

"I kept fighting, but I don't know how I managed to come through it. I was very tired, Tommy was very tired as well. When you have to work hard for something it means more, you get more satisfaction from it."

Cheered on by a noisy home crowd, Robredo won the first set comfortably 6-3.

The second set went to a tie-break and Robredo had two championship points.

But Murray produced some battling heroics to hold on then take the set himself, winning the tie-break 9-7. In the final set Robredo broke Murray's serve to take a 4-3 lead but the Scot broke back immediately to level.

The title was decided by a tie-break, with both players looking to be on their last legs. The Spaniard saw three more match points come and go before Murray produced a superb backhand winner to take the tie-break 10-8.