Murray beats Berdych to reach Australian Open final
Former Wimbledon champion will take on either Djokovic for defending champion Wawrinka.
Andy Murray advanced to his fourth Australian Open final and a chance to win his third Grand Slam title with a 6-7, 6-0, 6-3, 7-5 semi-final win over Tomas Berdych.
Murray broke Berdych’s serve in the 11th game of the final set and clinched the match with an ace to advance to Sunday’s final against either Novak Djokovic or defending champion Stan Wawrinka.
Murray’s former coach, Dani Vallverdu, was hired by Berdych a few weeks after Murray cut ties with the Venezuelan.
On Thursday, there appeared to be several verbal exchanges between the players and the coaching boxes.
Murray lost Australian Open finals to Roger Federer in 2010 and Djokovic in 2011, both in straight sets, and again to Djokovic in four sets in 2013.
“I was obviously disappointed to lose the first set,” Murray said in a courtside interview. “But I started to feel better and stick to my game and I was more aggressive in the second set.
“I was trying to get him running more, which was important because I needed to change the momentum.”