Andy Murray is one step away from ending his 15-month title drought after he fought from a set down to pip Juan Monaco in the semi-final of the Shenzhen Open.

Murray took an hour and 42 minutes to beat his Argentine opponent 2-6, 6-3, 6-0, and set up a title clash with Tommy Robredo in the Briton's first final since winning the Wimbledon title in July 2013.

Murray, who needs a strong finish to his season to qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals, dropped the first set and was 3-3 when he reeled off nine straight games to surge ahead.

"He started the match well," said Murray. "I was struggling a little bit with my timing. The turning point was when we were 3-3 in the second set, but before that he was dominating the match.

"Obviously, the conditions were very hard today. I found it very tough in the sun - it's extremely hot and humid, but I came through."

Looking ahead to today's final, he said: "Hopefully it'll be a good match. Tommy's a very experienced player. He's been playing some good tennis this year, so it'll be tough."

Murray needs to move up three spots from his current 11th place in the Race to London to qualify for the eight-man finale and added: "It's been a tough year for me. The first few months coming back from surgery were hard, then I lost a bit of confidence. But I've felt better the past few months and hopefully I can have a strong end to the season."

Murray will move on to Beijing this week for the China Open, where he will be joined by Rafael Nadal, who having recovered from a wrist injury, returns to action for the first time since his shock Wimbledon loss to Nick Kyrgios.