Andy Murray in tears after 3am win to reach Washington quarter-finals

Ranked at 832 in the world rankings coming in to the US Open warm-up event, Murray could not contain his emotions after continuing his encouraging run in DC.

At 3:01am local time, the Brit eventually sealed victory over Copil to reach his first quarter-final since Wimbledon last year.

For Murray it was a hugely emotional win and he sobbed into his towel after taking the deciding set tie-break 7-4 against the 27-year-old Romanian.

The former world number one, who is attempting to return to the top of the tennis world after undergoing hip surgery in January, has had to battle through the rust in regaining form ahead of Flushing Meadows and now he is not happy after the scheduling debacle with effectively two matches in a day.

“I don’t think it’s reasonable and I’m disappointed in that," he said. "I know that the weather is tricky for the scheduling. But it’s a very difficult position to be in when you’re coming back from such a long lay-off.

“Finishing matches at 3am is not good. It’s not good for the players, not good, I don’t think, for anyone involved in the event. Not good for fans, not good for TV, nobody.”

The 31-year-old lost the opening set 7-5 on a tie-break, but fought back strongly to level up the match with a commanding break of serve in the second at a crucial stage.

Despite not being able to find a way past the doughty Copil until the breaker, Murray always looked determined to force a victory in what is a hugely important comeback event in his recovery.

The Brit will next take on Alex De Minaur on Friday with only a few hours to rest up before their last-eight clash.