Andy Murray defeated Rodger Federer for the first time in a Grand Slam tournament in five-sets to set up a mouth-watering final against his good friend and defending Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic.

The reigning US Open champion prevailed in just over four hours as he claimed a memorable 6-4 6-7 [5-7] 6-3 7-6 [2-7] 6-2 that means that he will now play in his third Australian Open final.

Andy Murray
Andy Murray prevails against Roger Federer to move into the Australian Open final. [Reuters] Reuters

Murray has twice tasted defeat in the final, in 2010 losing to Federer and a year later being defeated in straight sets by Djokovic, but after winning his first Slam last year the Scot appears to have a new found confidence in his game.

The world number three remained aggressive throughout and was consistently able to bully Federer from the back of the court and with his accurate and powerful serves.

A break of serve in the third game of the match was enough for Murray to claim the first set but it was a much tighter affair in the second as both players looked comfortable in their own service games.

Murray twice went close to earning a break point by Federer continually snuffed out any chance and it went to a tie-break. The Swiss number one had won two tie-breaks in his quarter-final match against Jo Wilfried Tsonga and once again prevailed.

In the third set it was once again Murray who threatened as he stepped up the tempo and continually came in to the net to find winners. He earned a break in the sixth game and continued to get the better of the exchanges to win the third set and once again take the lead.

Federer immediately answered as he raced into a 4-1 lead but Murray dug deep and managed to turn things around to find himself serving for the match at 6-5. The Brit took a 30-love lead but Federer simply refused to be beaten and managed to secure the break to force another tie-break.

Once again it was the 17-time Grand Slam winner that took control and he quickly wrapped up the tie-break to force a deciding set.

Despite the disappointment at failing to seal victory, Murray reacted in the best possible way as he took a 3-0 lead. Federer continued to fight but another break secured the victory and set up another epic encounter with Djokovic.