Andy Murray miraculously saved three match points to defeat Lorenzo Sonego and advance to the second round of the Qatar Open.
The British veteran came from a set down to overcome his Italian counterpart 4-6 6-1 7-6[4] and set up a clash with German fourth seed Alexander Zverev in the second round.
The start of Monday's match was nothing short of catastrophic for Murray, who fell 40-0 down on serve in the opening game and double-faulted to gift Sonego an early break to love.
Sonego accepted that gift with open arms and held with an ace in the second game to take a 2-0 lead, despite also double-faulting on his opening service point.
Not a single break point would come the way of Murray in the first set as Sonego held to love to clinch the first set, with the former world number one left to rue his disastrous start.
However, it was the Italian who would experience early misfortune at the start of the second set, where Murray opened with a love hold following two early unforced errors from Sonego.
A nail-biting second game finally brought Murray the break points he desired - four to be exact - and Sonego impressively saved three of them before being undone by a brilliant cross-court forehand winner.
© BBC
As Sonego's first-serve percentage dropped dramatically, Murray took full advantage with strong play at the net, bringing up three more break points on the Italian's serve in the fourth game - Sonego saved two of them before an untimely double fault handed Murray the double break for a 4-0 lead.
Sonego at least managed to avoid a bagel with a hold to love in the sixth game, but an ace down the T from Murray brought up three set points for the three-time major winner, who once again relied on the cross-court forehand at the net to force a third set.
Sonego could have very well capitulated at the start of the third set after ceding a break point to Murray in the opening game, but the 27-year-old's resilience came to the fore as he fought back to hold.
The third set was a much tighter affair, albeit with a few shanked forehands from Murray - one of which gave Sonego two match points in the 10th game - but the steadfast Scot saved both of them.
After losing the longest rally of the match so far, Murray faced a third match point on serve, but the 35-year-old continued to deliver in the crucial moments and ultimately managed to hold for 5-5.
A tie-breaker would be needed to settle the contest, and Sonego was immediately on the front foot - earning the mini-break and taking a 3-0 lead - but a spate of untimely unforced errors sparked the Italian's downfall.
Murray won the next six points - bringing up three match points with a sublime cross-court backhand - but he inexplicably found the net with a close-range volley to squander his first one.
However, the 35-year-old did not shy away from going back to the net, and Sonego was powerless to return another powerful stroke from Murray, who clinched victory in just over two and a half hours.
Ben Knapton
