Murray advances to fifth Aussie final

That has qualified Djokovic for his sixth Australian Open final, and his 19th Grand Slam final overall, where he will face second seed Andy Murray who after four previously unsuccessful attempts at Melbourne Park will desperately be hoping that it’s fifth time lucky.

Milos Raonic of Canada plays a forehand return to Andy Murray of Britain during their semifinal match at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 29, 2016.

It was an impressive performance against a man who has played four finals at this Grand Slam and won the title at two others.

The Raonic/Murray semi-final, dubbed the less interesting of the two, was always going to have to deliver in order to follow in the enormous footsteps of the titanic semi-final between Federer and Djokovic the previous night, but the two players with nearly polar opposite games style delivered an nearly modern classic. The Scot emerged from a turbulent match, in which the Canadian suffered a groin injury, with a 4-6 7-5 6-7 6-4 6-2 victory.

Even older brother Jamie Murray has powered through to the men’s doubles final, making them the first brothers in the Open Era to reach the finals in both events at a Grand Slam. He said post-match that he was, if anything, frustrated with his body more than Murray’s dogged never-say-die attitude.

The big-serving Canadian had the measure of Murray, the world No. 2, until the injury cruelly struck and he angrily smashed his racket on the court floor as the match slipped away in the fifth set. “We’ve played a bunch of times here, and hopefully this time it will be a different result”.

Andy Murray (top) watches as Milos Raonic prepares to hit a shot.

So Murray stuck it out and got what he wanted Friday: A spot in Sunday’s showpiece. Murray failed to take advantage in the match until the final set when he quickly ran into a 4-0 lead, winning the deciding set 6-2. Raonic was injured midway through the fourth set, which gave the momentum to Murray despite the fact that the Canadian outplayed his Scottish opponent for most of the match.

In the third, Raonic comfortably held his serve and had break point on Murray’s service in the 11th game, only for the Scot to hold on. The fourth set, I thought he was still moving well.

Still, he won in four sets to reach the last sixteen for the eighth consecutive year, where he then maintained his flawless record against Australians when he defeated Bernard Tomic in straight sets to reach the quarter-finals. “It’s obviously important. I want to make sure at the beginning I am there as much as I can be to try and help out, just be there for whatever is really required of me”.

So the wait continues for the first Canadian Male to reach a Grand Slam Singles Final. He will play five-time champion Novak Djokovic in the final.

The pair traded some breath-taking baseline rallies in the second but there were no breaks until the Murray finally struck in the 12th and decisive game.

But raggedness accompanied the aggression and Raonic made 78 unforced errors compared to Murray’s 28.