Andy Murray makes Australian Open final

Andy Murray made an impressive comeback against David Ferrer at the Rod Laver Arena.

The Scottish tennis player was one point away from being two sets down to the Spaniard.

But Murray eventually won the match 4-6 7-6 6-1 7-6 to set up a clash with the Serb Novak Djokovic in Sunday’s final.

Speaking after the encounter, Murray said it was a physical match: “My body was feeling it a bit towards the end but I’m going to jump in an ice bath to try to recover properly.”

I’m very proud of him. I always expected him to play at Wimbledon, but we never expected as much as this. Brian Melville, former coach

Andy Murray has made it to two Grand Slam finals previously but has been beaten by Roger Federer on both occasions.

The Scot said Sunday’s final would be a tough match: “Novak’s played a great tournament.

“Experience-wise we’re similar. We’re good friends and practise a lot together.

“We trained a lot in Perth getting ready for here. We practised four or five times and then practised here a couple of times.

“There won’t be any secrets about our games.”

Murray’s ‘best chance yet’

With Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal both already out, Sunday’s Australian Open final is being billed as Murray’s best chance of a Grand Slam title.

Former British number one Andrew Castle told Channel 4 News Murray had a great opportunity: “It takes years to get as good as Murray is.

“If you watch his behaviour and attitude on court it’s been perfect and I think he has a better chance of winning this one than the other two Grand Slam finals.”

“It’s really quite exciting, I watched the Henman and Rusedski eras and Murray’s better than both of them and I hope he wins this one and gets the monkey off his back before it becomes a gorilla.

“It’s good news that it’s not Nadal or Federer on the other side of the net but Djokovic is no pushover.”

Messages of support

Scotland’s First Minister has sent Andy Murray his best wishes ahead of Sunday’s final.

Alex Salmond said: “The whole nation is behind Andy, and he has a spirited and vocal group of fans in Melbourne.

“He is at the top of his game, playing wonderful tennis, and I believe Sunday will be Andy’s day.”

One of Murray’s ex-coaches, Brian Melville, said his former protégé had “worked his socks off” over the past year, and was cautiously optimistic about his chances in the final.

He said: “I’m very proud of him. I always expected him to play at Wimbledon, but we never expected as much as this.

“The final will be very tough, but he has been playing well and I think he’ll be focused.

“I think if he can keep control of his emotions he’ll be fine. I wish him all the very best of luck and I’m sure the rest of Scotland will as well.”