Andy Murray and Feliciano Lopez through to doubles final at Queen's Club
Murray, on his comeback from five months out after hip surgery, through to Sunday's final alongside Lopez
Sunday 23 June 2019 07:52, UK
Comeback king Andy Murray and marathon man Feliciano Lopez made it through to the Queen's Club doubles final on Saturday.
After reaching the singles final of the Fever-Tree Championships, Lopez took a break of precisely 12 minutes before he walked back onto court with Murray to finish their quarter-final against British duo Dan Evans and Ken Skupski.
Fading light had seen play halted the previous evening with Murray and Lopez having taken the first set 6-4 and on serve at 4-5 in the second.
Lopez held serve to level the set, and Skupski and Murray followed suit to take it into a tie-break. A swashbuckling Murray backhand from the baseline put them 5-2 up and the Scot wrapped up a 6-4 7-6 (7-3) victory with a smash.
Lopez and Murray opted to stay on court, waiting for reigning Queen's champions Henri Kontinen and John Peers.
Having taken the first set, a stunning Murray forehand out wide secured a break towards the end of the second.
But the 32-year-old two-time Wimbledon champion promptly dropped his serve to take it to a tie-break, which Kontinen and Peers won to level the match.
However, in the subsequent match tie-break, Murray and a presumably exhausted Lopez staggered over the line to win 7-5 6-7 (5-7) 10-7.
Asked whether he has surprised himself on his comeback, Murray, said: "I didn't know what to expect, and obviously I had tough, tough draw, as well, playing the top seeds in the first match and [having] never played with Feliciano before. I didn't have high expectations at all.
"I think things have probably got a little bit better maybe with each match, as well. Definitely on the return side of things, that's probably the thing I was most happy with today. And I didn't expect to be playing in the final, no, that's for sure."
They will meet Rajeev Ram and Britain's Joe Salisbury in the final on Sunday.
