Andy Murray advanced to his fourth Australian Open final and a chance to win his third Grand Slam title with a 6-7 (6), 6-0, 6-3, 7-5 semifinal win over Tomas Berdych on Thursday.
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.
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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.
THE RESULTS
Men: Semifinals: 6-Andy Murray (Gbr) bt 7-Tomas Berdych (Cze) 6-7(6), 6-0, 6-3, 7-5.
Women: Semifinals: 2-Maria Sharapova (Rus) bt 10-Ekaterina Makarova (Rus) 6-3, 6-2; 1-Serena Williams (USA) bt Madison Keys (USA) 7-6(5), 6-2.
Men: Doubles: Semifinals: Simone Bolelli & Fabio Fognini (Ita) bt 6-Jean-Julien Rojer (Ned) & Horia Tecau (Rou) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3; Pierre-Hugues Herbert & Nicolas Mahut (Fra) bt 4-Ivan Dodig (Cro) & Marcelo Melo (Bra) 6-4, 6-7(5), 7-6(5).
Mixed doubles: Quarterfinals: 3-Kristina Mladenovic (Fra) & Daniel Nestor (Can) bt 5-Cara Black (Zim) & Juan Sebastian Cabal (Col) 6-2, 6-3; Hsieh Su-Wei (Tpe) & Pablo Cuevas (Uru) bt 2-Katarina Srebotnik (Slo) & Marcelo Melo (Bra) 6-1, 6-2.
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