Andy Murray confident of making history in Melbourne

It all sounds so simple. Andy Murray is one match away from lifting the cloak of despair that has covered the British men’s game for 74 years when he plays in the final of the Australian Open on Sunday morning.
Tomorrow, Murray will discover whether Roger Federer, the greatest player of them all, or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, of France, is to stand in his way. The 22-year-old reached his second grand-slam tournament final this morning, defeating Marin Cilic, of Croatia, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 at the Rod Laver Arena.
His first final, at Flushing Meadows in September 2008, ended in the rush of a straight-sets defeat by Federer. But that is the man he wants to play and, remarkably, since the 2005 French Open, the last three players to win their first grand-slam final, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin Del Potro, all beat the Swiss en route to their momentous breakthrough.
Federer made 17 grand-slam appearances before he won his first title at Wimbledon in 2003. This is Murray’s 17th grand-slam event. The British No 1, who had not been beyond the fourth round here before, said: “It would be the best way ever, if you win against him, if you beat Federer in a grand-slam final it has to be an unbelievable achievement. I would love to win against him but he’s probably going to be the tougher opponent. I’m just focusing on trying to win and I can start working on the tactics tomorrow once I know who I play.
“I haven’t seen that much of Federer here but I did see some snatches of him against [Lleyton] Hewitt and he played great. It seems that he struggled a bit yesterday [against Nikolay Davydenko when Federer was a set and a break of serve down] but he came through and that’s the important thing. And he’s been winning reasonably comfortably.”
Murray confessed that nerves almost consumed him against Cilic in the semi-final, the Briton's longest and most troublesome match of the six he has played in the tournament. The memory of last year’s Wimbledon semi-final, when he was so close and yet was beaten by Andy Roddick, was in the back of his mind as well. “I had the chances to win that day,” he said. “But I don’t feel the expectation so much here.“
When the subject of Britain’s long wait for a grand-slam champion was raised by an Australian reporter, Murray said: “I don’t read the newspapers here, I haven’t been on TV that much so I can just kind of avoid it, I guess.
“I would love to do it. It’s not the only reason [breaking the 74-year duck]. I want to win for the people I work with, for my parents who did so much for me when I was growing up, then doing it for British tennis and British sport would be excellent as well. The pressure that I feel doesn’t come from the people around me. They are happy with anything I do. I want to win for them first of all.
“I would rather be in the position of having to wait for the final than what happened to me at the US Open in 2008 when I had to play on three consecutive days. In a slam, that hardly ever happens, so physically I’m going to be in good shape. This is the best I have played in a slam. I’m old enough and experienced enough to be able to deal with everything I need to.
“I love the atmosphere on the centre court here. When I played Nadal in 2006, it was the most amazing thing I had ever experienced. This is right up there as one of the best places in the world to play.”
Source:The Times