Andy Murray has set his sights on claiming the final place in the prestigious Masters Cup after claiming the St Petersburg Open - and believes his mid-season injury problems could work to his advantage.

Murray ran out 6-2 6-3 winner against Fernando Verdasco of Spain in the final in Russia and was scarcely tested as he claimed a second ATP Tour title of the season following his February victory in San Jose.

Murray broke into the top 10 soon after that success, a repeat of his first ATP Tour title in 2006, but he was out for over three months with a niggling wrist injury which wrecked much of his campaign.

But after some impressive recent performances, topped by his dominant display against Verdasco, he is now only three points outside the qualifying places for the showpiece event in Shanghai which is only open to eight highest-ranked players.

And the British number one, 20, believes his enforced spell on the sidelines could yet turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

"I feel okay at the moment. I had three-and-half months off this year because of my wrist injury.

"I had a lot of time to rest down and I think I've only played 14 or 15 tournaments this year," said the Scot, who will be looking to claim the spot currently held by German Tommy Haas at the final ranking event in Paris this week.

"So I'm pretty well rested. There's one tournament to go and I still have a chance of getting to Shanghai.

"I'm going to try my best and if I win a couple of matches (in Paris) I have a good chance."

Murray made his first break against Verdasco in just the third game, with an unforced error on the Spaniard's backhand giving Murray the lead.

He consolidated that advantage by holding his next game, making it 3-1 with a fine drop shot - a good sign after he gifted Dmitry Tursunov a handful of points attempting a similar tactic earlier in the competition.

The 20-year-old then forced a second break as he began to dominate his increasingly nervy opponent.

The second set has often been Murray's stumbling block - as witnessed in his epic clash with Mikhail Youzhny in the last four - but this time he broke at the first attempt, continuing to dictate play as he triumphed to love against serve.

Verdasco briefly found some fight to threaten a break of his own at 2-1 down but Murray produced a fine cross-court winner to peg him back.

He soon broke again and took the third title of his professional career after earning two match points.

Murray conceded that his defeat of home favourites Tursunov and Youzhny meant he was not the crowd favourite this week, but has already set his sights on return.

"I've been playing really well indoors this year and he (Verdasco) hasn't played too many finals so I felt confident coming in.

"I'm sure they (the crowd) weren't liking me too much when I was up against Tursunov and Youzhny but I hope to be back because I really enjoyed it.

"I'm looking forward to next year."