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Flights of fancy and a moment of ignorance

Andy Murray had plenty of support in the Rod Laver Arena © Getty Images

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Murray grinds his way into final

Digging himself out of a hole
In a thrilling four-set topsy-turvy encounter against David Ferrer, Andy Murray found himself on the back foot during one particular rally, endlessly chasing down Ferrer's attempted winners. But just as Ferrer sent what looked like an unreturnable shot deep into the corner, Murray showed impressive determination to unleash a running forehand sailing down the line - Ferrer could only watch as it flew past his left shoulder.

All of a flutter
Murray had dropped the opening point of the third set when a pair of seagulls dropped into the Rod Laver Arena. Maybe it is something about the Murray brothers that draws birds to the brothers like a moth to a flame, but they would be well advised to stay clear. Andy's brother Jamie revealed he had killed a sparrow during training last week, and judging by the glare on Murray's face, a similar strategy may have passed through his mind.

Turning point
Having lost the opening set, Murray looked to be in trouble as he faced set point at 5-4 in the second. Having already hit 32 errors at this point in the match, Murray's serve was his redeeming feature, and he fired a powerful serve, which Ferrer had no answer to. Job done - Murray went on to coolly hold his serve before breaking Ferrer - only to be broken back before winning on a tiebreak.

What's the score?
Murray appeared the picture of calm as he coolly saved set point to avoid going two sets down. When asked after the match by Jim Courier what was going through his mind at that particular point, Murray admitted he was struggling to keep track of the score. "You are probably not going to believe this, I actually thought it was 4-3," Murray admitted sheepishly. "I didn't know until the umpire called 5-5 when I won the game."

An apology
Last week we claimed Juan Martin del Potro had made the miss of the tournament, but we were wrong. That award goes to Murray. Edging closer to a place in the final, Murray had all the time in the world to dispatch a smash at the net. In one of those 'how did he miss that?' moments, Murray looked aghast as the ball found the net.

There's only one winner
"It's a shame he had to lose," Murray said, rather graciously as he paid tribute to the "unbelievable athlete" Ferrer. An empty sentiment, one feels. Surely someone should explain to Murray that if Ferrer had won, there would be no match on Sunday for the Scot.

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