Australian Open: Andy Murray beats David Ferrer in semi

The Briton, seeded fifth, won 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-1 7-6 (7-2) to set up a final against Novak Djokovic on Sunday.

Murray produced an error-strewn performance in the face of Spaniard Ferrer's class and relentless energy.

But he battled back from the brink of a two-set deficit and is now one win away from a first Grand Slam title.

"Ferrer's an unbelievable athlete and competitor," Murray said afterwards. "He works so hard. I was expecting an unbelievably tough match and I got it.

"He's such a tough player to play against. He was dictating at the start and I had to start going for my shots more and it paid off. There will always be some nerves in a Grand Slam semi-final and that was the case today."

Serve was dominant in a low-key start to the match, with Murray misfiring a little on his groundstrokes, but the first opportunity for either man came when he got to deuce at 3-3 with some attacking returns, and Ferrer faltered with forehand and backhand errors.

Murray had his break without having got out of first gear but immediately found himself under pressure at 15-40 in the following game as Ferrer stepped up the pace, and the seventh seed clinched it by ending a magnificent rally at the net.

The match had now come alive and a beautiful backhand down the line took Murray to 15-30 in the next game before a similar stroke at the end of a hypnotic 40-shot rally earned him another two break points, but a Ferrer ace and a snatched return into the net saw the Spaniard escape.

Murray now carried the pressure and when Ferrer earned himself a set point, the world number five blazed a forehand wide - his 16th unforced error - to lose a set he had earlier controlled.

The subdued Briton needed a lift and he got exactly that at the start of the second, breaking when Ferrer sent a forehand long, but it did not signal a change in the rhythm of the match as the exasperated Murray found himself 0-40 down moments later and netted a backhand on the third break point.

As the second set progressed, it was the Spaniard who increasingly looked in command as a bewildered Murray just could not find a way through his defences and time after time ended lengthy rallies with a mistake of his own.

Clearly rattled by the way the match was going, and in regular dialogue with the umpire, Murray was in deep trouble at 15-40 in game seven of the second set but served his way out of trouble.

The errors kept on coming though and Murray was staring at a two-set deficit as Ferrer, 5-4 up and bristling with intent, hammered an attacking return at 30-30 to force error number 32, but Murray saw off the set point with a big serve down the middle and clung on; Kazinform cites BBC News.

See www.bbc.co.uk for full version