Murray beats Berdych to seal his third Wimbledon final

Andy Murray secured a place in his third Wimbledon final with a 6-3 6-3 6-3 victory over Tomas Berdych on Centre Court on Friday.

Murray, who won The Championships in 2013 having clinched Olympic glory at SW19 the previous year, was rarely troubled by Berdych as he claimed his fifth straight-sets win of the tournament.

The Scot will now meet Milos Raonic after the Canadian saw off seven-time champion Roger Federer and is also sure of a spot in November’s ATP World Tour Finals.

Sunday’s final represents a departure from the norm for Murray, who has only ever faced Federer or world number one Novak Djokovic in his 10 grand slam finals.

Berdych pegged Murray back in the opening set after the two-time major winner had benefited from a double fault to break serve at the first attempt.

But Murray earned two break points at 4-3 up and had the advantage once again when Berdych sent a forehand long and wide.

Berdych survived a pair of break points at 2-2 in the second and made Murray fight extremely hard to hold in the next game – the world number two eventually producing a powerful serve to clinch it after a fifth deuce.

And the second-set breakthrough for Murray arrived when Berdych, who had squandered two break points of his own in pushing Murray all the way in the sixth game, chipped into the net to fall 4-3 behind.

The Czech failed to recover from that setback and Murray sent a forehand winner down the right to seal the set.

Berdych showed tremendous spirit to hold in his opening service game of the third set having fallen 30-15 behind, opening his account for the decider with an ace.

But Murray looked to be on the home straight when Berdych sent a forehand wide to go 3-1 down, with progression to the tournament showpiece wrapped up after the Czech found the net with a backhand at full stretch.

STATISTICAL BREAKDOWN
Murray [2] bt Berdych [10] 6-3 6-3 6-3

WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS
Murray – 20/9
Berdych – 32/30

ACES
Murray – 7
Berdych – 5

BREAK POINTS WON
Murray – 5/10
Berdych – 1/3

FIRST SERVE PERCENTAGE
Murray – 65
Berdych – 63

PERCENTAGE OF POINTS WON ON FIRST/SECOND SERVE
Murray – 77/55
Berdych – 70/37

TOTAL POINTS
Murray – 92
Berdych – 69