• Australian Open, Day 12

Murray grinds his way into Australian Open final

Andy Murray was forced to dig deep to beat David Ferrer © Getty Images

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Andy Murray faced his toughest test yet, but sealed his place in the Australian Open final after battling past David Ferrer 4-6 7-6(2) 6-1 7-6(2).

Only Novak Djokovic stands between Murray and his maiden grand slam title, but the British No. 1 had to overcome a shaky start to book his place in the final for the second consecutive year.

With Roger Federer, the man who thwarted in him in his two previous grand slam final appearances, ousted in the semi-finals, Murray could be forgiven for having one eye on the final, but Ferrer made him pay for his early inattention.

Although Ferrer had won three of their five previous matches, Murray had won the pair's most recent encounter 6-2 6-2 at the ATP World Tour Finals in London in November, and had won both clashes on hard courts.

He started solidly, and carved an early break to take a 4-3 lead, only to see Ferrer hit straight back after an enthralling rally in which Murray showed impressive athleticism to return a series of winners, but failed to reach a passing shot at the net. Ferrer's conservative play paid dividends when he snatched the opening set after Murray fired a backhand wide.

Murray started the second set with intent, and forced an early break, but again he was pegged back by the determined Spaniard. Trailing 3-2 after the initial exchange of breaks, Murray found himself two break points down, only to unleash two monster serves to bring it back to deuce.

Murray was visibly frustrated as his error count crept up, and once again he found himself serving to stay in the set, and was forced to dig his way out trouble - saving a set point at one stage - before powering through the tiebreak.

Murray was rewarded for a series of aggressive, yet patient rallies with a break to go 3-1 up, and he backed it up with a crucial hold of serve. Another break soon followed after a superb topspin lob from the Scot, but after a brief wobble, took the lead for the first time in the match.

He raced to a 2-0 lead in the fourth, and Ferrer appeared a beaten man, as the consistency that served him so well in the opening stages deserted him. But just as it looked as if he was down and out, he discovered a new lease of life as he battled back to cause Murray further problems.

Once again, it needed a tiebreak to separate the pair, but Murray sealed the victory in the fourth-set tiebreak after three hours and 46 minutes on court.

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