Andy Murray came through a tough three-set encounter to oust the world number 10 for his first top-10 triumph of the season, and he said he fully deserved the win.

The Brit was facing Hurkacz for a third time in just over two months . Murray took on the Pole in Cincinnati in August and Metz in September.

Murray had lost both previous encounters in straight sets but was by no means blown away by Hurkacz.

At the third time of asking, Murray was able to overcome the potential ATP Finals competitor. The scoreline was 6-4, 6-7 (6-8), 6-3 in close to three hours on court at the Vienna Open.

“It’s a good feeling,” Murray said immediately following the match. “It was obviously a very tight match, could have gone either way. Had some chances in the second set, didn’t get it.

“And then, the third set I was a break down and he’s not an easy guy to break, especially indoors.

“Thankfully I managed to get the break back in the next game and from there I probably deserved to get over the line. So yeah, good win in tough circumstances.”

Murray had his first match point in the second set tiebreak, but Hurkacz held him off with a backhand winner under pressure.

Almost an hour later, Murray secured the victory with an ace out wide on his third match point.

“I think [my movement] is something that with each match I’ve started to do a little bit better with,” Murray added.

“A lot of my movement is about anticipation. [So], when you’re not playing many matches like I haven’t the last few years, you’re just not quite reading the play as well.

“Now with each match and each week that I’m playing I’m starting to see the ball a little bit earlier, starting to react a little bit quicker.”

The former world number one will next face Carlos Alcaraz, the same man he defeated to reach the third round of Indian Wells earlier in October.

Read more on what this means for Murray in the wider context of his 2021 season.