Andy Murray wrestles past Cilic

Andy Murray reached his first Australian Open final by beating Croatia’s Marin Cilic 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. It was a brave fight back from the Scot as Cilic’s offensive tactics and ferocious ground strokes had Murray back peddling in the first hour.

Cilic started in an authoritative manner, dictating play and maintaining searing pace on the ball on both sides. By the fifth game, neither man had even half a sniff of a break. Cilic had other ideas. Murray, the world number four, was struggling to cope with being pulled about all angles of the court as Cilic obliged to bash the ball into the corners.

The Croat forced Murray into a couple of unforced errors after deuce to vanquish the first break of the match and hold his serve afterwards. Cilic now had a 4-2 advantage. Murray ended the first set with a feeble wimper as Cilic broke Murray’s serve again to love, with a crunching, forehand winner. The spirited Cilic was bouncing about the court and looked in cruise control after winning the first set 6-3.

Like so often is the case in tennis, one moment of magic can turn a match on its head. With Cilic ready to pounce at the net and Murray retreating for a lost cause with his back to the court, Murray produced a moment of inspiration. The 22 year old swivelled to face the court, well behind the baseline and dug out a forehand passing winner. The crowd leapt up in a state of jubilation and Cilic stood incredulous with a resigned look cast on his face. With this came a crucial break for Murray as the tables began to turn with Murray 3-2 up.

Cilic was now serving at 4-2 down and his drop in form and spirit was showing. Murray had found another gear and was unlucky to have lost a staggering four break points in one game. The 2008 US Open finalist held his nerve to serve out the set and it was a gutsy recovery after a limp first set by Murray. The defence, athleticism and touch had all improved from Murray and Cilic was left dumbfounded and wondering how he could win 2 more sets.

In this unpredictable fight, both men broke each other’s serves to leave Cilic serving at 2-2. Cilic was trying to orchestrate play with his formidable forehand, whilst Murray was running down every ball and exhibiting feather like touch and graceful volleys. At 3-3 with Cilic serving at break point, it looked like the Croat had momentarily left his brains in his hometown of Zagreb as he hit the net with an ill judged drop shot from a ridiculous position behind the baseline.

Murray was in no mood to let an advantage slip agonisingly through his fingers again and began to play at a higher level. He began switching defence to attack at the right time, heightening the tempo and hitting the ball flatter, adding a lot more variety to his arsenal. His opposite number began to look down and out as Murray dominated from this point and took the third set 6-4 to lead for the first time in the semi-final.

On his own serve, Murray was hitting flat and finding winners on every point of the court. He had rendered Cilic utterly clueless. A double fault gave Murray a break to lead 2-1 before Murray served out, ending the game with a gorgeous badminton style flick as Cilic tried to up the pace. The ball dropped delicately over the net with Cilic looking fatigued at the other side of the net after playing 3 five setters before this match. The Croatian number 1 was done and dusted by this point with Murray serving for the match at 5-2 up.

Cilic regained a bit of fight at this point and began playing to his strengths, bludgeoning the ball hitting hard and flat. Murray raced down an almighty hit from Cilic and clipped the ball around the post for a breathtaking winner. As the Margaret Court Arena roared him on after, Murray merely strolled into the position with the look of a man who doesn’t need to celebrate to acknowledge his undeniable skill.

At match point, Cilic weakly looped a Murray serve long in a point which symbolised the last few hours of the match.

Murray is deservedly into the final and will be glad of a good test under his belt before he meets Roger Federer or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Sunday’s final. As Murray celebrated, a banner was waving in the crowd saying "Great Scot." The banner told the whole story.