Murray into final, revives British hopes

Melbourne: Andy Murray has beaten Marin Cilic to reach the Australian Open final and is again only a win away from ending a long British drought at the Grand Slam tournaments.

Murray started slowly but picked up momentum Thursday night in a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 win over the 21-year-old Croatian.

Murray is the first British man to reach the final in Australia since John Lloyd in 1977 and the first to reach two Grand Slam finals in the Open era.

Cilic had an upset win over Murray in the fourth round of the 2009 U.S. Open, where the Scot had lost the final the previous year to Roger Federer.

Fred Perry, who won eight major singles titles in the 1930s, was the last British man to win a Grand Slam event.