Andy Murray Advances to 1st Singles Final Since Hip Surgery

Andy Murray advanced to his first singles final since undergoing hip surgery in January after coming from a set down to beat Ugo Humbert at the European Open on Saturday:

The Scot won 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 in two hours and 23 minutes to set up a final with Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka on Sunday in Antwerp, Belgium.

Victory means Murray is into his first ATP singles final since the Dubai Championships back in March 2017 as he continues his comeback from career-saving surgery.

Murray has beaten Belgium's Kimmer Coppejans, eighth seed Pablo Cuevas and Romania's Marius Copil on his way to Saturday's semi-final clash with Humbert.

He found it tough going in the first set against the Frenchman and produced three double-faults in the first six games, allowing his opponent to gain the crucial break.

A tight second set followed with the two players trading breaks of serve. However, Murray managed to level when Humbert produce a double-fault on set point when serving to force the tiebreak:

The former world No. 1 then cruised into a 3-0 lead in the decider on his way to clinching an impressive victory that sets up an exciting final against three-time Grand Slam winner Wawrinka.

Tennis TV showed Murray's moment of triumph:

Murray said after the match that he had not expected to reach the final in Belgium, per ESPN.

"It's been a long road to get back to this point," he said. "I certainly didn't expect it to come so soon since I started playing again. It's been a big surprise to me and I'm happy to be through to the final."

The Scot now gets to renew his rivalry with Wawrinka and has the edge when it comes to past meetings between the two players, as shown by the ATP Tour:

Murray offered Amazon Prime (h/t BBC Sport) his thoughts on facing Wawrinka ahead of Sunday's final.

"Stan's a brilliant player. We've played against each other in some big matches in the past in big tournaments," he said. "He's had his injury troubles as well the last couple of years and done great to get back to the top of the game."

Murray only made his return to singles action at the Cincinnati Open in August, going down in straight sets to France's Richard Gasquet.