Andy Murray was delighted with his performance and fitness levels after being given a tough workout by home favourite Fernando Verdasco in the semi-finals of the Valencia Open.

The world number four (3/10 favourite to lift the trophy) has now made it all the way to the final of his first tournament back from a six-week lay-off, after his 6-3 2-6 6-3 win in his last-four match, and is expecting a similar examination in the final against an in-form Mikhail Youzhny (12/5).

“At first I felt quite a lot of preassure because Verdasco is a very unpredictable player, you never know how or where he’s going to attack,” Murray said.

“However, as the game went by I started to feel more confident as things started to work out for me.

“I managed to stay strong because he hit some really big winners and put some pressure on me.”

The British number one, who can earn an ATP World Tour-best sixth title of the year, is not expecting an easy ride in the final.

Murray (4/1 to win the Australian Open in January) said: “He’s (Youzhny) playing a very good end of season, he plays with no pressure and I’m sure he’ll make things hard for me.”

The British number one won their only previous meeting, edging a three-set thriller in the semi-finals in St Petersburg in 2007, while Youzhny won the Kremlin Cup two weeks ago to claim his fifth career title.