Murray Makes it Past Milos

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Andy Murray reached his fifth Australian Open final after an epic five-set battle with 13th seed Milos Raonic.

Briton Murray was broken in the first game and his 25-year-old Canadian opponent went on to take the first and third sets.

But the 28-year-old Scotsman prevailed 4-6 7-5 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 6-2 in a gruelling four-hour contest.

Murray will now meet reigning champion Novak Djokovic in Sunday's final.

"It was tough in that third set. In the tie-break he didn't miss a single serve and it is frustrating when you don't get a say in the points," said Murray.

"Over the match, I got a better read on his serve and that was crucial."

The result means Murray and older sibling Jamie have become the first brothers in the Open era to reach the finals in both the men's singles and men's doubles events at a Grand Slam.

Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares will play Daniel Nestor and Radek Stepanek in the doubles final on Saturday.

Fellow Scot Gordon Reid is also on course for an Australian Open double after reaching the final of the men's wheelchair in both the singles and doubles.

Former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash: "This match won't take an awful lot out of Murray - the rallies weren't that long. He was moving very well at the end and was moving confidently. He knows where he failed last year and knows he must keep the pressure up against Djokovic and can't afford any lapses.

"Last year he was at himself the whole time. He shouldn't have been but he couldn't stop himself and for his sake I'm hoping he has learnt the lessons from that."

BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller: "Maybe last year Murray didn't believe he could beat Djokovic, but now he's more and more confident in his abilities and Djokovic has been a bit off-key at times, making 100 errors against Gilles Simon."

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Ryder Cup for Tennis Not for Cash

A Ryder Cup-style competition for men's tennis may struggle to win player support, according to former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash.

Teams from Europe and the Rest of the World will compete annually for the Laver Cup, named after 77-year-old Australian tennis legend Rod Laver.

The inaugural edition of the event is scheduled for September 2017.

"I like the concept but I don't know if players will take it seriously," Cash told Radio 5 live sports extra.

The tournament organisers say each six-man team will be captained by a "a legend of the sport", who will pick two wildcards to add to the four players who qualify through "a results-based formula".

The 12-match competition will take place over three days, with each day featuring three singles matches and a doubles match.

The tournament is the brainchild of Team8, the management agency of 17-time grand slam winner Roger Federer, Tennis Australia and Jorge Paulo Lemann, a Brazilian businessman who represented both Brazil and Switzerland as a player in the Davis Cup.

Cash, who won the men's singles title at Wimbledon in 1987, believes the timing of the tournament will discourage the top players from signing up.

"The concept is a great idea, but it's after the US Open and the Davis Cup [semi-finals] - it's stuck in the middle of a tournament," he said.

"With the Davis Cup struggling in some places in the world, I'm not sure we need another tournament to squeeze in."

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Awesome Djokovic Ends Federer Dream

Novak Djokovic produced an awe-inspiring display to beat Roger Federer in the semi-finals of the Australian Open.

The 45th meeting between two of the sport's greatest champions was another classic encounter and Djokovic produced one of his finest ever performances in a 6-1 6-2 3-6 6-3 win in Melbourne.

Both men shared 22 wins apiece ahead of this latest showdown, but Djokovic seemed a class above his long-term rival while storming into a two-set lead in just 54 minutes.

Federer's decision to attack the net stemmed the Serb's onslaught in the third and he hauled back a set as a partisan crowd roared him on at a flood-lit Rod Laver Arena.

But the defending champion was not denied for long and broke again in the fourth set rivened by tension before serving out the match to love in two hours and 19 minutes to secure a place in his fifth successive Grand Slam final.

The world No 1 will now bid to join Australian legend Roy Emerson with a sixth title at Melbourne Park.

He will meet the winner of second seed Andy Murray and 13th seed Milos Raonic who play in the second semi-final on Friday. 

"I played unbelievable first two sets, but that's what's necessary against Roger," said the 10-time Grand Slam champion.

"He's been playing at a very high level and I knew he was going to try to play aggressive, mix up the pace and come to the net.

"I came out with the right intensity and executed everything perfectly. But it was a battle in the end."

Djokovic had given his rivals hope after two lacklustre displays against Gilles Simon and Kei Nishikori but the top seed was back to his very best here and will now be strong favourite to clinch his 11th major crown.

For Federer, his wait for an 18th continues and despite playing brilliantly against the rest of the field, it may never end while he keeps running into Djokovic, who has now won their last four Grand Slam meetings.

Sunday will be Djokovic's 19th major final overall and moves him into equal-third place with Ivan Lendl on the all-time list of most appearances in major finals, which is headed by Federer.

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Sharapova Succumbs to Serena

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Reigning champion Serena Williams ramped up the power to beat fifth seed Maria Sharapova for the 18th match in a row and reach the semi-finals of the Australian Open 6-4, 6-1 on Tuesday.

Russian Sharapova broke the world number one in the first game and mounted a stiff challenge in the opening set but wilted in the second to extend a losing record against Williams that goes back 12 years.

The 34-year-old American, who twice had treatment during breaks in the rematch of last year’s final, has reached the last four at Melbourne Park on six previous occasions and gone on to win the title every time.

Williams, who is looking for her 22nd major singles title, has a 8-0 head-to-head record against her semi-final opponent Agnieszka Radwanska.

Fourth seed Radwanska advanced to her second Australian Open semi-final after beating Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro 6-1, 6-3 earlier on at Rod Laver Arena.

The 26-year-old Pole jumped out to a 4-0 lead with two breaks of serve in the first set, and while the Spaniard finally managed to hold in the fifth game, Radwanska broke again on her second set point to seal it in 28 minutes.

Radwanska opened up a 2-0 lead in the second but then neither player held serve for the next three games until 10th seed Suarez Navarro won an 11-minute sixth game to level at 3-3.

Radwanska, who also made the last four in 2014, broke again in the eighth game before serving out for the match.

“I knew it would be a tough one,” Radwanska said. “She is very solid, like most Spanish players and I knew everything would come back to my side. I tried to be aggressive and focus on my serve and I think I did a good job.”

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Pundits Declare Decline of Rafa Nadal

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Simon Briggs, writing for the UK Telegraph, provided the strongest reaction to the defeat, saying it showed Nadal’s aura was “well and truly busted”.

“Everyone knows the way to beat Nadal,” Briggs wrote.

“Unless you are Novak Djokovic or Andy Murray, two of the few players who could potentially outrally him, you just have to think big and hit big — the model established by Lukas Rosol in his shock Wimbledon win of 2012.

“You can see why opponents would now look at a match against Nadal as an opportunity rather than a death sentence.”

New York Times’ Christopher Clarey agreed, saying the manner of Verdasco’s victory ”is only going to encourage Nadal’s future opponents to take more risks under pressure.”

Peter Bodo, writing for ESPN, pointed out a technical decline in Nadal which meant he had lost his ability to “swarm and overwhelm opponents.”

“Nadal appears to have a compound problem,” Bodo said.

“He has squandered a significant amount of his once-immense mystique and, for complex reasons, his forehand is no longer the weapon it once was.

“In fairness, he can still lay the hammer down on most ATP players. But the elite competitors and the shot-makers who get on a roll, as Verdasco did Tuesday, have become a problem.”

Merlisa Lawrence Corbett, writing for Bleacher Report, said the performance raised serious questions about Nadal’s ability to ever contend for a grand slam title again.

“Once a fixture in the semi-finals and finals at Grand Slams, Nadal is trending down, and out,” Corbett wrote.

“(He) looked limited. His grunts sounded like vintage Nadal. His movement along the baseline seemed like vintage Nadal.

“But his weapons have diminished. He was giving all he had. It’s just no longer enough.”

Nick McCarvel, writing for USA Today, said Nadal had been “pedestrian at best” in the last three majors.

“He lost in the second round at Wimbledon (to qualifier Dustin Brown); the third round of the U.S. Open (to Italian Fabio Fognini); and here to Verdasco, who he held a 14-2 record against prior, including a five-set classic win in the 2009 semi-finals here,” McCarvey wrote.

“As Novak Djokovic continues to distance himself from the rest of the field in men’s tennis, the belief factor against Nadal seems to be growing.”

Many were not willing to write 14-times major winner off just yet, saying the clay court season — where he’ll chase an astounding 10th French Open title — would provide a better indication of where he’s at.

Nadal’s former Davis Cup captain Alex Corretja is convinced the Spanish great can still win another slam.

“He’s been there, he’s won so many and, yeah, he lost first round, but I really believe it’s not so easy to beat Rafa in the best of five ... and it might be different when he is able to get two or three matches under his belt,” Corretja told the BBC.

“I think he’s been a little bit unlucky with the draws. Usually we shouldn’t say that with Rafa, but I think with the momentum he needs, he’s been suffering tough losses because of that.”:

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Nadal Knocked Out in Melbourne

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Rafael Nadal bowed out in the Australian Open first round as fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco came from behind to win 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2.

Nadal led by two sets to one and then 2-0 in the decider in Rod Laver Arena but Verdasco came roaring back, unleashing an incredible 90 winners on the way to a superb victory.

The world number 45 will now face Israel’s Dudi Sela in round two, while Nadal exits a third consecutive grand slam in the first week.

“I played unbelievable in the fifth set from after the break he made against me,” Verdasco said.

“I just started hitting winners — I don’t know how. I was closing my eyes and everything was coming in.”

Australian Nadal Nadal overcame Verdasco in a momentous five-setter in the Australian Open semi-finals six years ago, but few expected a similar battle with Verdasco now 32 and with his best days behind him.

Nadal, though, is not the powerhouse presence he once was, having crashed out in the second round at Wimbledon last year and US Open third round.

There had been signs of a revival in recent weeks but the 14-time major champion was simply unable to cope with Verdasco’s superior baseline hitting, which yielded 90 winners, 41 of them forehands, to Nadal’s 37.

A double fault at 6-6 in the first-set tie-break was enough to give Verdasco an early lead, but Nadal looked to have ridden the storm when he clinched the next two sets - the first following a thrilling rally, which ended with Nadal roaring and pumping his fists.

However, Verdasco refused to lie down, cranking up the power on his forehand and nicking the fourth set to force a decider.

Again Nadal edged ahead with an early break in the fifth, but it was Verdasco who strung together six games in a row, including two breaks of serve, to seal victory in four hours and 41 minutes.

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Serena Wins Opener in Melbourne

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Serena Williams shrugged off her knee injury and lack of match practice to beat Italian Camila Giorgi in the first round of the Australian Open.

The American’s troublesome knee forced her to pull out of the Hopman Cup last week and she was pictured taking treatment during a practice session in Melbourne on Saturday.

The world number one had not played a competitive match since her shock US Open exit in September, but she made light of her preparation problems as she edged past Giorgi 6-4, 7-5 in just under two hours.

“It’s great,” Williams said, when asked about her knee injury. “It was an hour and 43 minutes and I didn’t feel it at all.”

Giorgi, ranked 36th in the world, was the highest non-seed Williams could have drawn but she gave away too many easy points, particularly on her serve, which yielded 12 double faults.

Williams was certainly not at her barnstorming best in Rod Laver Arena but, after a long winter break, the top seed believes the extra rest stands her in good stead as she chases a 22nd grand slam title.

“It helped me a lot,” Williams said. “I think I just needed a break. I have been going non-stop since the Olympics in London, and seeing that this is another Olympic year, I kind of wanted to start the year out really fresh and really go at it again as hard as I can.

“I just needed that time to just recover the best of my ability and get really fit, you know, and really train and get ready for the season.”

Taiwain’s Hsieh Su-wei now awaits in round two after she beat Latvian Jelena Ostapenko. The world No90 reached the Australian Open fourth round in 2008.

“She’s really young and really aggressive,” Williams said. “She’s really good, a talented player. She’s extremely young. Very dangerous.”

Sixth seed Petra Kvitova is also safely through to the second round after she cruised past Thailand’s Luksika Kumkhum 6-3, 6-1, but Caroline Wozniacki and Sloane Stephens both crashed out.

Wozniacki, seeded 16th, lost 1-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 to Kazakhstan’s world No76 Yulia Putintseva, while USA’s Stephens was beaten 6-3, 6-3 by Chinese qualifier Qiang Wang.

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