Andy Murray blitzes Berdych to make final in Melbourne

Murray lost the first set in a tie-break, but never looked back thereafter as he won 6-7 6-0 6-3 7-5 - and will go on to meet either top seed Novak Djokovic or defending champion Stan Wawrinka, who play their semi-final on Friday.

The Scot broke his opponent completely in the second set with a staggering combination of untouchable serves and nerveless returning.

And from there on he never looked in danger of losing - breaking Berdych in the 11th game of the fourth set, and then serving out a love game, even finishing off with a perfect ace down the centre.

It will be Murray's eighth Grand Slam final appearance - and his fourth in Australia, having been beaten in 2010 (by Roger Federer), 2011 and 2013 (both of which he lost to Djokovic).

Having missed several good chances in the first set, Murray admitted that he had given himself a stern talking-to - though he did not tell on-court interviewer Jim Courier exactly what he'd said.

"I probably can't repeat it on TV!" he chuckled.

"I was disappointed but I felt like I got better as the game went on - I got very aggressive at the start of the second set...

"I changed tactics a little bit, but I was getting more comfortable in the conditions and also with Tomas's ball - he hits the ball very hard and at first I felt very rushed trying to deal with it."

Berdych, who is now coached by Dani Vellverdu -- a former member of Murray's coaching team -- started at a blistering pace that had the Scot hanging on by his fingernails as he scrambled all around court to save his own serve.

The Czech conceded just two points on his first four service games before Murray clawed his way back with Berdych serving for the set at 5-3 and then forced it into a tiebreak, which the seventh seed surprisingly won after saving a set point when Murray hit a forehand into the net.

Murray appeared to be ruffled by something said by Berdych at the changeover - and whether he was sparked by that or something else, his display in the second set was quite extraordinary as he bagelled the seventh seed.

The Scot kept his momentum in the third set, breaking in the sixth game - as Berdych served consecutive double faults - and serving out comfortably.

The fourth set saw Berdych push hard to get back into the match - but Murray was in full flow, and even when threatened always seemed able to dig deep. Murray gave up just three break points during the match, and lost only one of them - breaking back immediately afterwards on that occasion. By contrast, he broke his opponent six times in 10 chances.

A jubilant Murray defended his decision to stick with Amelie Mauresmo afterwards, and also lamented referred to the pre-match focus on how his former coach, Dani Vallverdu, now works for Berdych.

"It's a big match, a lot was made of Dani, my ex-coach, working for him - but Dani and I have been friends since I was 15, so I thought that was very unfair," Murray said.

"This is sport and there's more to life."