This game has changed considerably now. Gone are the long rallies, with both players now trying to finish off points as quickly as they can. Robredo holds to love to get himself on the board in this second set.

Tommy Robredo is not giving Murray any cheap points. Instead, the Scot is having to pay top whack just to stay in each game. At 30-30, Murray is under pressure on his own serve again, but he sneaks over the line to consolidate the break.

This is now a huge ask for Murray, who is competing for the fifth week in a row. Good signs here at the start of the second set, though, as he earns a seventh break point of the match. When Robredo goes long, Murray screams his delight before firing some pointed words towards his box. "I'm trying so hard. Show me some support," he yells.

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There's very little gusto about Murray's groundstrokes. He's hitting everything like a nervy cricketer feeling his way into an innings, checking every drive without following through.

As he falls to 0-30, he slumps over an advertising board, before picking himself up to finally find a winner, on the way to a 40-30 lead. Robredo takes it to deuce, however, and earns himself a set point with a blistering forehand pass. When a Murray forehand sails long, Robredo wins the set.

Robredo is serving with new balls and the wind very much in his sails. But he is letting the adrenaline get the better of him. Two wayward strokes hand Murray two break points.

Once again though, Robredo rises to the challenge, returning everything Murray throws at him with interest. With Murray practically on his knees, the Spaniard saves a third and fourth break point and clinches an epic game when Murray drags a forehand into the tramlines.

Robredo is still puffing away like an overweight City worker who has been forced to run for the Tube. But, amazingly, his tennis is getting better and better. When a Murray second serve sits up, Robredo slams it down the line to take it to deuce. Suddenly, it is the Spaniard who is the aggressor, dragging Murray around the court with some booming groundstokes and earning himself his first break point of the match. Suddenly it is Murray who looks exhausted, his hair matted down with sweat. And Robredo takes the game when Murray whips a cross-court forehand into the net.

From 30-30, Robredo serves a double fault to hand Murray his first break point, but the Scot fails to take his chance as he whips a forehand long. Four deuces follow, with Robredo looking absolutely shattered between points. But somehow the veteran Spaniard holds strong and wins the game with a crunching forehand down the line.

Murray's superior power is plain to see in every point here, but the Scot has not found his rhythm yet and a forehand winner from Robredo takes us to 30-30 on the Murray serve. The Briton's advance to the net pays off to give him game point, and he takes it with a fast, wide serve that scrapes the frame of Robredo's racquet on the way into the crowd.

It's all a touch scrappy out there, with the majority of points being won by unforced errors. Robredo grows in confidence as the game goes on, taking it to 15. Not much to choose between them in these early exchanges.

Meanwhile, the camera picks out tournament director Juan Carlos Ferrero in the crowd, alongside his other half and an extremely well-behaved baby.

Murray sails through an easy service game as he holds to 15. Again, Robredo looks to force things but after looping a forehand long, he dumps his next into the net.

With Murray moving so well, Robredo seems eager to keep the points short. An ace nudges him 30-15 ahead before Murray gives himself a sniff of a break by winning a 25-shot rally. But a smashed winner and a big first serve get the Spaniard on the board.

We could be here some time. The first point is a 23-shot rally, which ends when Murray nets a forehand. Murray wriggles his way back into it by landing some first serves and bags the first game when Robredo pushes a forehand return wide.

Ok, hopefully I've served up enough goodies to whet your appetite for this showdown on the Spanish coast. Over to the players...

Murray reached the final by beating David Ferrer 6-4 7-5 on Saturday, his second victory in three meetings with Spaniard in the last three weeks. Robredo beat France's Jeremy Chardy 7-6 (9-7) 7-6 (7-2) in his semi-final.

Murray is seeking his 31st career title, Robredo his 13th.

Back to Valencia and Murray and Robredo have entered the arena, the Scot in dark grey, the Spaniard deep orange. The waterside venue is a flashy old place, with steep white pillars on the outer and inner walls. It has something of the Sydney Opera House about it.

Image source, Reuters

Talking of 33-year-old world number ones....

Serena Williams made sure she ends the year at the very top after by beating Romania's Simona Halep to win the season-ending WTA Tour Finals, external for the third year in a row on the event's debut in Singapore. The American top seed won 6-3 6-0 to claim the WTA title for the fifth time.

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Elsewhere in tennis, Roger Federer's superb season shows no sign of tailing off. He beat David Goffin of Belgium 6-2 6-2 to win the Swiss Indoors in Basel. If Federer wins next week's Paris Masters and the ATP finals, he will finish the year as world number one. Not bad going for a 33-year-old.

Murray lost his first two meetings with world number 21 Robredo back in 2006 and 2007 but has won all four of their matches since then. Their most recent contest, in the Shenzhen final, turned into something of a humdinger, with Murray saving five match points before nicking the second set on a tie-break and running away with the decider.

Yes folks, it is a fit and firing Andy Murray who will take on Tommy Robredo today in the final of the Valencia Open as he seeks his third title in five weeks. And, after victories in Shenzhen and Vienna, a win today would move Murray up three places to fifth in the Race To London standings. With Rafael Nadal having pulled out of the tournament due to appendicitis, meaning even the ninth-placed player will qualify, that would all but secure Murray's place in the season-ending tournament for the seventh year in succession.

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What a difference a month makes. This time in September, Andy Murray's chances of qualifying for the ATP World Tour finals in London looked slim at best. A distant 11th in the standings, and without a title since Wimbledon 2013, the British number one was losing his grip on a place among the world's elite.

One month on and Murray has not only turned the corner, he is steaming up the fast lane with the O2 Arena in his sights.