Australian Open 2015: Andy Murray back to his best with an almost 'complete performance'

Sky Sports tennis expert Barry Cowan says Andy Murray's semi-final victory over Tomas Berdych was an almost 'complete performance' and show the British No 1 is back to playing his best tennis...

It’s arguable to say that that performance was as good as he can play.

That was an amazing performance by Andy Murray. The match literally came down to the first set and although Murray lost it, with it being an hour and 15 minutes long, it was Berdych who suffered the dip in the second set and that was all Murray needed to get a foothold in the semi-final clash.

The most impressive thing about Murray’s performance was that he didn’t let off. It’s been an important factor in many of his matches. We’ve seen him drift mentally for periods of 10 or 15 minutes where he can lose three or four games, but that just didn’t happen today.

Murray needed to be in charge of every point and it was something he wasn’t doing at the start of the match and that’s why he was in a little bit of trouble in that first set.

But it was as aggressive as I’ve seen him play in a big match in a long time. Everything came together. It was almost a complete performance and certainly reminded me of when Murray has played his best tennis in those big Grand Slam matches in the past.

It’s arguable to say that that performance was as good as he can play.

Motivation

Murray feels he’s got a point to prove at the moment. When he feels like that he’s at his most dangerous and at his best.

When he won Wimbledon and people were only saying positive things about him; that almost worked against him. When he was No 6 in the world and not winning the big matches questions were asked, and rightly so.

The changes were made to his team and now he’s got the bit between his teeth, he’s fully motivated and we saw that against Berdych.

What I’ve seen of Murray recently is that he’s happy and it doesn’t matter who he’s got in his corner. That’s almost the most important role of the coach. They can have all the expertise and technical input but if the player is unhappy there’s going to be a breakdown.

Andy is happy and has a point to prove. He’s now playing the right kind of tennis which is really exciting for him in terms of what could happen on Sunday, but also what could happen in 2015.

Physical

It’s more than likely that Murray will play Novak Djokovic in the final and we have to remember that the Serb is the world No 1.

Djokovic has proved in his matches with Murray - since that Wimbledon final loss - that he’s the better player. Andy certainly has more variation to his game but if it becomes a physical match Novak has proved over the last 18 months that he’s better.

Murray will be feeling great that he’s back in a Grand Slam final and is playing the way he has done in this tournament. And he must remember that Djokovic has got nervous in major finals before and lost them.