Andy Murray stormed into his third Wimbledon final as the Scot crushed Tomas Berdych 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 on Friday to set up a title showdown with Milos Raonic.
Murray gave a majestic performance on Centre Court and needed just under two hours to ensure his return to the All England Club final three years after becoming the first British man to win Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936.
The 29 year old made just nine unforced errors in contrast to 30 by Berdych, who was powerless to halt Murray’s progress to an 11th grand slam final appearance– a milestone that took him ahead of Perry as the British man with the most major finals on his CV.
“I’m very happy. To make the Wimbledon final is a good achievement. I’ve got one more to go on Sunday,” Murray said. “The older you get you never know how many chances you will get to play in a grand slam final.
“It helps to have experience to deal with the nerves. You learn from those matches in the past against some of the best players of all time.”
With Canadian sixth seed Raonic in his first major final after a shock win over Roger Federer, world No 2 Murray will be strongly favoured to clinch his second Wimbledon crown and third grand slam title.
Murray holds a 6-3 lead in his head to head with Raonic and defeated the Canadian on grass three weeks ago in the Queen’s Club final.
It is the first time the two Queen’s finalists have gone on to meet in the Wimbledon title match since Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker in 1988.
Raonic triumphed 6-3, 6-7, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 over Federer, who said: “I pushed him on a few service games, couldn’t get it done.
“He hit the lines with the serve and forehand. He did a great job. It’s something I want to forget about.”
“It hurts. I was so, so close.”
It was 25-year-old Raonic’s first win on grass against a top-10 opponent and shattered Federer’s hopes of going on to claim a record eighth All England Club crown and 18th major.
“There was a little opening and I took it,” said Raonic, who looked down and out in the fourth set. “It’s a big impact for Canada. Hopefully, it will be even bigger if I win on Sunday.
“I was struggling throughout the third and fourth sets, he was playing some real good tennis. It’s a great feeling to be continuing.”
Federer conceded he was nervous after he turned his left ankle and jarred his left knee in the fourth game of the final set and worried that he may have suffered serious injury.
“I just I hope I didn’t hurt myself,” the 34-year-old Swiss said.
“Is it a three-day thing. Is it a 24-hour thing, or is it more? I don’t know at this point.
“I hope it’s not so bad.”
He also did not hide behind that as a reason for his loss.
“He earned it at the end,” Federer said. “But I helped him so much to get back.”
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Williams sisters have shot at doubles title
Serena and Venus Williams reached their sixth Wimbledon doubles final on Friday with a 7-6, 6-4 victory over eighth seeds Julia Goerges and Karolina Pliskova.
The Williams sisters have won the All England Club doubles crown five times and will face fifth seeds Timea Babos and Yaroslava Shvedova in the final as they bid for a 14th major doubles title.
Hungary’s Babos and Kazakhstan’s Shvedova defeated Raquel Atawo and Abigail Spears 6-4, 6-4 in the other semi-final.
Serena, 34, and Venus, 36, last won the Wimbledon doubles tournament in 2012.
The American stars have won all 13 of their grand slam doubles finals dating back to their first success together at the French Open in 1999.
They have also won the gold medal in the Olympic doubles three times, in 2000, 2008 and 2012.
Serena, bidding for a record-equalling 22nd grand slam singles triumph, is also in the women’s singles final against German fourth seed Angelique Kerber on Saturday.
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