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Rest a welcome distraction for Murray

Andy Murray can put his feet up for a couple of days after beating Marin Cilic © Getty Images

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Day 11 in pictures

Andy Murray booked his place in the Australian Open final with a win over Marin Cilic and admitted having two days off to prepare will be a novel experience.

Murray fought back from a set down to reach his second Grand Slam final, having made it through at the US Open in 2008. The Scot played back-to-back-to-back matches in New York, losing to Roger Federer in the final, but he will have a couple of days' rest before facing either Federer or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

The world No. 4 will look to fine-tune his game over the next couple of days, but admits it will be nice not to have to worry about the pressure of competition. "I will practice a little bit more tomorrow, maybe an hour and a half, and half an hour or so on Saturday," Murray said. "It is the first time it has happened to me in a slam, the last time I got to a final in the US Open I played three consecutive days. It is nice to have a couple of days off."

Murray is aware that whoever he faces will pose a stiff challenge. "If Federer gets through, I would love to beat him in a Grand Slam final," Murray said. "It's important against both of them to play a solid match; you have to maintain your level, hitting the ball to a good length, not leaving it short."

The pivotal moment in the match came at break point in the second set when Murray chased down a lob to pull off a stunning pass on the run and he revealed that it is a shot he works on. "Honestly," he said. "I actually practice this shot quite a lot in training. It was a great shot. I managed to turn it in."

Murray had words of praise for Cilic who seemed to wilt as the match went on, having battled through a number of epic matches. "He fought really hard," Murray said. "Coming out here after back-to-back five-set matches, he deserves great credit."

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