History beckons as Andy Murray defeat Roger Federer

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Britain's Andy Murray, right, is congratulated by Switzerland's Roger Federer after Murray won their Australian Open semi-final in five sets. Source: AP

 ANDY Murray has assured tomorrow night's Australian Open final against Novak Djokovic will be a history-making affair after defeating Roger Federer in another epic last night.
The Scot was outstanding in defeating the 17-time grand slam champion 6-4 6-7 (7-5) 6-3 6-7 (7-2) 6-2 to reach his third final in Melbourne.
Murray was understandably delighted after outlasting his gallant rival after a semi-final lasting exactly four hours.


"It is always tough against him. Slams are when he plays his best tennis ... and when his back was against the wall when I was serving for it, he came up with some unbelievable shots," he said.
"He hit a couple of balls on to the line and went for it. That is why he has come back so often in the slams."
The Scot saw only glimpses of Djokovic's demolition of David Ferrer but knows he will have to produce his best tennis to claim the Australian title.

"I hear he played extremely well. this is the court he has played his best tennis on. He plays great here and I will obviously have to play my best tennis to win," he said. "I will need to be ready for the pain but I hope it is a painful match because that means it will be a good one."
It was the power of his serve that allowed him to defeat Federer for the first time at grand slam level after previous losses in finals in New York, Melbourne and London. But as should be expected given a clash between two of the world's best, it was not without drama. Murray failed to serve out the match when leading 6-5 in the fourth set as Federer proved again exactly why he is a champion.
His backhand winner at 30-all in that game is one that should feature in a highlight reel of his career.
Nor was the match without angst, with Federer surprisingly tetchy and Murray muttering away in his usual manner. There even appeared to be a testy exchange between the pair at 15-0 when Murray was serving for the match in the fourth set.
Having been taken to five sets by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga two nights earlier, the Swiss was unable to continue the comeback with Murray dominant in the final set.
Both Murray and Djokovic are playing for a slice of history tomorrow night. Djokovic is seeking to become the first man to win three successive Australian Opens in the professional era.
A victory by the Scot would be unprecedented though. No man in history has managed to win a second grand slam title at the next major following their initial breakthrough, but the US Open champion has that chance against Djokovic.
Another who clearly would have enjoyed the marathon is Djokovic, who was resting back in his hotel. A night earlier he needed only 89 minutes to defeat David Ferrer - the semi-final last night was only midway through the second set when that mark was eclipsed.
The Serbian, though, need look only in the mirror to realise that a fourth Australian Open is no certainty. After taking five hours to topple Murray in a semi-final last year, he was able to come back two nights later to triumph over Rafael Nadal in an epic final.
A key theme throughout the match was apparent early in the match, with Murray far more comfortable on return then Federer, who was under pressure on a regular basis on serve. This superiority allowed Murray to seize an early advantage when breaking at 3-1 and throughout the first set he appeared the better player even given the high quality produced by his rival.
Despite failing to make any inroads on the Murray serve through the second set, Federer was able to hold firm with his own delivery to take the match to a tiebreaker.
It was here that Murray, so superb with both serve and forehand through the first 22 games, showed some frailty.
His inability to land a first serve with the same consistency and a string of forehand errors gave Federer the early lead but it is a whipped backhand pass by the Swiss at 5-all that will feature on the highlights reel.