Melbourne, 28 January 2011 | AAP

Andy Murray has the opportunity for another British sporting victory on Australian soil this summer, surviving a tense Australian Open semi-final for a shot at his long-awaited maiden Grand Slam tennis title.

Scotsman Murray fought back from a set down and the prospect of trailing by two to sweep aside Spaniard David Ferrer 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-1 7-6 (7-2) tonight.

It puts Murray into a men’s singles final with Serbia’s Novak Djokovic on Sunday night at Rod Laver Arena – right next door to the Melbourne Cricket Ground where England’s cricketers ensured they retained the Ashes last month.

It will be 23-year-old Murray’s second successive appearance in the Open decider where he was beaten by Roger Federer last year.

Murray won a hard-fought semi-final in three hours and 46 minutes – his turning point coming in the second set tie-break.

The Scot had earlier stared down set point on his serve, which would have put him two sets down and the seventh-seeded Spaniard on the verge of his first Grand Slam final.

Instead world No.5 Murray held serve, broke in the next game, and even rebounded from Ferrer breaking back straight away to take the set to a tie-break.

Murray then reeled off the first six points of the tie-break, battering Ferrer 7-2 to put thoughts of what might have been in the 28-year-old Spaniard’s head.

The Scot then had Ferrer on a string in the third – Ferrer booting over an advertising hoarding in frustration at the end of the set.

But the nerves started jangling in the fourth set as Murray let an early break of serve slip and interspersed shots which defied physics with elementary errors as Ferrer hung tough to push the set into another tie-break.

There Murray continued Ferrer’s tie-break woes, powering to a 7-2 victory to move into his third grand slam final.

Victory would make Murray Britain’s first grand slam singles winner since Virginia Wade won Wimbledon in 1977, and the first male to win a major singles title since Fred Perry won the US Open in 1936.