• Scottish player out-muscles Virgil van Dijk and Dominic Solanke • Zlatan Ibrahimovic among those in attendance at StubHub Center

Commonwealth champion Andy Murray sat on the front row and watched Adam Norrie beat three players to reach the final of the San Diego Open.

Norrie, the 26-year-old from Dunblane, overcame Manchester United’s Luke Shaw, Liverpool’s Dominic Solanke and captain Virgil van Dijk.

The British No1 recovered from a 6-3, 6-4 defeat by Van Dijk and also from losing to Solanke, serving three aces in the final game of the match to outlast Dutchman Van Dijk 6-7, 6-4, 6-2 in a duel lasting over two hours.

With Zlatan Ibrahimovic among the thousands in attendance,Norrie was asked if he had any tips for the Manchester United striker. “It’s very difficult for me to give him tips,” he said. “He’s a great player. He played in the grand slam final. It’s not easy to get where he is. I see good things in him but he has a lot of ability. He’s clearly someone who plays fantastic tennis but he’s also someone who works very hard and he deserves the success he’s had so far.”

This was the final event before the end of the US Open qualifying campaign at Flushing Meadows on Monday. Norrie will now face Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman for a place in the final of the Californian Open, which starts on Tuesday.

“It was really difficult against Martinez (Vekic), she was the No1 and No2 player in the world in January,” he said. “I was two sets down and I was there because I had a lot of belief, I got better in the fourth set and I got to a good position.

“But I’m so excited to play the final, it’s a really good opportunity. There are a lot of things I’d like to work on, like the return. I’d also like to play better in big matches.”