Wimbledon: Andy Murray races into final with straight sets win over Tomas Berdych

Three years after becoming the first British man for 77 years to win the Wimbledon singles title, Andy Murray will have another shot at home glory here on Sunday. A crushing 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Tomas Berdych – his fifth straight-sets victory in his six matches so far at the tournament – sent the 29-year-old Scot into a showdown with Milos Raonic, who is the first Canadian man ever to reach a Grand Slam final.

It will be Murray’s third successive appearance in a Grand Slam final following his defeats to Novak Djokovic at this year’s Australian and French Opens.  For once Murray will be the favourite. In all 10 of his previous Grand Slam finals – eight of which he has lost – the Scot has faced higher-ranked opponents. Indeed, this will be his first final against an opponent other than Djokovic or Roger Federer.

Raonic, who is the world No 7, earned his place in the final with a 6-3, 6-7, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory over Federer, who lost in the semi-finals here for the first time.

It will be Murray’s third Wimbledon final – he lost to Federer in 2012 and beat Djokovic in 2013 – and one that the 29-year-old will relish. “The older you get you never know how many more chances you will have to play in Grand Slam finals so you want to make the best of any opportunity,” he said.

Murray, who has won all 11 grass-court matches he has played so far in 2016 and is undefeated since his reunion with Ivan Lendl, has won his last five meetings with Raonic. He also won both of their previous Grand Slam encounters, though the Canadian ran him close in the semi-finals of this year’s Australian Open before suffering an injury which scuppered his chances.

“It was a good match today,” Murray said afterwards. “The middle part of the second set was really key. He had a few chances to go up a break and then I broke in the following game – and that was big. To make a Wimbledon final is a good achievement and I’ve got one more to go on Sunday.”