Andy Murray (Reuters / Mark Kolbe / Pool)
Andy Murray has reached his third Australian Open final beating four-time champion Roger Federer in a five-set thriller.
Murray showed solid play in the first three sets, not allowing Federer a single break. But the more experienced Swiss made the most of his chances during the second set tie-break, which allowed him to stay in the match.
A tense fourth set saw the Scot come from 4-1 down to break Federer’s serve twice as he was serving for the set. But Federer stormed back to earn his second break of the match and went on to level things on court winning another tie-break.
However, Murray proved fresher in the decider as he quickly swept into a 3-0 lead and closed out the four-hour marathon 6-4, (5)6-7, 6-3, (2)6-7, 6-2. His record against Federer is now 11-9.
Murray will now face reigning champion Novak Djokovic in Sunday’s final. The Serb, who beat Murray in the 2011 final and last year’s semi-final, is regarded as favorite.
In the women’s final on Saturday, world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka will defend her title against sixth seed Li Na.
Meanwhile, the top-seeded Italian pair of Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci have won the first Australian Open 2013 titles by beating local heroes Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua in the women’s doubles.
