Denis Istomin will face fellow qualifier Martin Klizan in the first all-qualifier ATP World Tour final in three and a half years after beating Nicolas Jarry 7-5, 6-7(4), 6-4 at the Generali Open on Friday.

Following in the footsteps of Viktor Troicki and Mikhail Kukushkin, who contested the first all-qualifier championship match at the 2015 Sydney International, Istomin edged Jarry in two hours and 36 minutes. The 31-year-old owns a 2-2 record in tour-level finals, winning his second ATP World Tour trophy in his most recent final appearance at the Chengdu Open in September 2017.

“I’m happy to be in the final and I am happy with my game,” said Istomin. “I think the altitude [in Kitzbuhel] is good for me as well, it helps with my serve and my groundstrokes… I feel good.”

Istomin, now 14-14 at tour-level in 2018, saved five of six break points and won 76 per cent of first-serve points against the Chilean, who was competing in his second tour-level semi-final in as many weeks. Jarry defeated top seed Dominic Thiem en route to the last four in Hamburg last week (l. to Basilashvili).

Istomin has defeated two seeded players in Austria this week, upsetting two-time champion Philipp Kohlschreiber and sixth seed Maximilian Marterer in successive matches. The World No. 95 had never previously reached a clay-court championship match at tour-level.

Klizan confirmed his place in the championship match alongside Istomin after one hour and 41 minutes, beating #NextGenATP Spaniard Jaume Munar 7-6(3), 6-3. The 29-year-old edged a tight first set before converting three of four break-point chances against the first-time tour-level semi-finalist to emerge victorious.

Klizan, who also reached the semi-finals in 2012, owns a 6-2 record in Kitzbuhel. The five-time tour-level titlist is tied at 1-1 in his FedEx ATP Head2Head series against Istomin, winning their most recent meeting en route to the 2014 BMW Open by FWU title.

“Anything can happen,” said Klizan. “It is a new match and Denis is a great player… It is going to be very important and there will be big pressure but I like to play under pressure. It is going to be a good match for the crowd as well. Denis is a very talented guy [and a] risky player. I am looking forward to playing the final.”

Did You Know?
Martin Klizan is undefeated in tour-level championship matches (5-0).

How much does this all mean to Andy Murray?

The Scot fought for more than three hours against Marius Copil on Thursday, eventually beating the big-serving Romanian 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-6(4) at the Citi Open in Washington, D.C. They finished at 3:01 a.m. local time, the latest finish ever at the Citi Open, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

After the match, though, Murray, who’s playing in only his third tournament since the 2017 Wimbledon, showed how much he’s missed the sport. The Scot became overwhelmed with emotions, at first dabbing away tears after embracing Copil at the net.

But then Murray, sitting by himself on his bench, sobbed for minutes into his towel. The dozens of remaining fans cheered and clapped for the Scot, who is back to fighting for every point and loving every moment of it.

“Just the emotions coming at the end of an extremely long day and a long match,” Murray said.

No words, @andy_murray.

Just thanks for your emotions… ??#CitiOpen pic.twitter.com/w89E3sCzJg

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 3, 2018

The former World No. 1, who underwent hip surgery on 8 January, will next meet Australia’s #NextGenATP star Alex de Minaur, who beat 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals champion Hyeon Chung 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.

De Minaur had to do double duty on Thursday, finishing off American Steve Johnson before facing Chung. But Murray’s match takes tournament bragging rights. The previous latest end time in Washington, D.C., was 2:27 a.m.

Read More: De Minaur Leads #NextGenATP Charge Into Washington QF

Murray certainly had to want it against Copil, who made him work for the quarter-final berth. The big-serving Romanian was the more aggressive player in the opener, taking early leads in Murray’s service games and seeing four break points.

But Murray erased them all and led 5/0 in the tie-break before Copil climbed back into it, hitting a drop volley winner on set point. Murray, however, showed no hangover. He broke in the first game and cut down on his mistakes, slicing his unforced error count almost in half and forcing a decider.

The two traded breaks halfway through the final set before reaching another tie-break, where Murray grew more vocal by the point until Copil sliced a backhand into the net.