Andy Murray has overcome the challenge of Tomas Berdych this afternoon to advance through to the final of the Australian Open.
The sixth seed had to battle back from a set behind at the Rod Laver Arena, eventually prevailing 6(6)-7 6-0 6-3 7-5 to set up a meeting with either Stanislas Wawrinka or Novak Djokovic in this weekend's showpiece final.
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Berdych started off strongly with a love game and pushed Murray, who had conceded just one set on his route to the semi-final, by taking his serve to deuce, but the Scotsman eventually came through.
The Czech dominated the court by going 4-3 up and dropped just two points in his four service games in the opening set.
He continued to control proceedings by going a break up, but Murray immediately broke back and eventually pushed the set to a tie-break, which Berdych edged 8-6.
Despite taking the lead after 78 minutes, Berdych crumbled in the second set and a rejuvenated Murray served up a bagel to secure a 6-0 win in 30 minutes - the first set that the Czech had dropped all tournament.
It was a poor set for Berdych, who beat Rafael Nadal to get to the semis, as he won just 10 points and made 12 unforced errors after taking a one-set lead in Melbourne.
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The third went by the way of serve until Murray struck with a huge forehand winner to take a 4-2 lead and managed to hold serve to snatch a crucial 2-1 lead on the court.
Murray looked the stronger of the two on the court, but he came close to losing his serve in the sixth game of the fourth set, although he was able to save two break points to keep things evenly poised.
It was the Scot who held his nerve to see out the all-important set, and he took real momentum into the fifth by holding his serve to see out the match.
Both players did well to hold, with Berdych racing into a 40-0 lead four games in succession at one stage, but Murray stuck with his opponent as the contest passed its third hour and eventually broke serve in the 11th game to open up the path to victory.
A fine one-two off his first serve provided the perfect platform for the 27-year-old, and with three match points he was able to end the challenge of Berdych to reach his fourth final in Melbourne.
Danielle Joynson
