Kerber beats Azarenka to advance to Australian Open semis

His impressive run at the Open follows on from his Brisbane International final win over Swiss master Roger Federer. He out-fought the dogged and indefatigable David Ferrer 6-3, 6-7, 6-2, 6-3 yesterday to book himself an appointment with Canadian Milos Raonic tomorrow.

That win helped propel Murray to his first Grand Slam crown, and he would add Wimbledon the following year, with an Olympic singles gold at the All-England Club sandwiched in between.

With Murray’s brother Jamie also reaching the last four of the men’s doubles with Brazilian Bruno Soares, Britain could have three finalists at the same tournament.

The Brit is seeking his fifth Australian Open final and his first title in Melbourne, but is well aware of the threat that awaits him.

Their last two matches, however, have been won by Murray, as the British No 1 prevailed in straight sets in Madrid Masters past year and in the World Tour Finals in 2014. She also became the first British woman to press on to a Slam semi since Jo Durie at the US Open in 1983. Sure enough, he was more vocal than he meant to be and there were times when he was not at his best but he got the job done. And he’ll lose a majority of them.

The seventh seed stunned the two-time champion 6-3, 7-5 to make make the last four only for a second time since 2012.

Raonic is the first Canadian man to go this far in Melbourne and just the second Canadian man or woman to reach the semifinals here after Eugenie Bouchard did so in 2014.

Murray appeared to benefit in the change to the slower court conditions when the roof was closed on Rod Laver Arena in the third set because of an approaching thunderstorm.

The indoor atmosphere slowed down the ball, giving Murray more of an advantage.

What this means is if Murray gets his racket on Raonic’s serve, he’ll be quicker to turn the point around than Monfils was.

Murray has now prevailed in his past six match-ups with the Spaniard, while upping his overall FedEx ATP Head2Head advantage to 13-6.

“This was probably the best match I played so far, especially in the second and third set”.

The world number two admitted off-court issues have been affecting his emotions on court, with his quarter-final win against David Ferrer particularly bad-tempered.

The Canadian will hope to keep the points short against Murray, who has the fitness and speed to match the game’s ultimate baseline hustlers, as Ferrer found to his detriment.

I just credit the win to perseverance, I had opportunities even in the set I lost. “I felt like at the end of the match I was playing some good stuff, moving well”. I can sort of neutralize a little bit better.

“Obviously the last few days have been tough and maybe I hadn’t played my best tennis and managed to get through”. “She was and still is my idol”, said Kerber of Graf, who won 22 Grand Slam titles – an Open-era record that Serena Williams is gunning to match in Melbourne.

The German lifted her game to mount her fightback against Azarenka, winning with a return at Azaranka’s feet that the Belarus player was unable to save.

“I was going out there today with a lot of confidence and trying to believe really in myself and just going for my shots, trying to play good tennis”.

“I’m more proud of how I’ve handled myself away from the court”.