MELBOURNE, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- London Olympics and U.S. Open champion Andy Murray reached his third Australian Open final here on Friday after beating 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-2 in four hours.
Murray dominated for the most part of the semifinal but Federer's brilliance kept him alive.
The Scot fired down 21 aces, only for the Swiss to dominate the two tiebreaks.
After failing to serve out the match in the fourth set, it looked as though Murray might have missed his chance when it came down to a fifth.
However, just like he did in winning his first major title at the U.S. Open, Murray rose to the occasion in the deciding set and raced away with it.
The third-seeded Scot will face defending champion and world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in Sunday's final. It will be a rematch of the U.S. Open final, in which Murray beat the Serb for his maiden Grand Slam title.
Murray will be the first man in the Open era to notch his first two major titles back to back if he wins the final. Otherwise, could be the first player to win three consecutive Australian Open titles in the Open era.
Djokovic strolled through his own semifinal against David Ferrer in just 89 minutes on Thursday.