British No.4 seed Andy Murray believes his game is coming together at just the right time heading into the semi-finals of the Australian Open.
The 24-year-old strolled into the last four for the third year in a row at Melbourne Park when he lifted his intensity on previous outings and capitalised on a tired opponent, brushing Japanese No.24 seed Kei Nishikori aside 6-3 6-3 6-1.
And while he awoke on Wednesday morning with a sore neck, neither the ailment nor some struggles with his serve prevented him staying on track for his maiden Grand Slam title at an event where he has been runner-up two years running.
"I was just a little bit more solid today and probably had a little bit more in the tank than he did," said Murray.
"He played three long matches (and) with the way that he plays, he needs to play a lot of long rallies (so) that was to my advantage today."
"I was hitting the ball better today."
"I could have served better, that's for sure (and) I'll need to serve better in the next match."
"I had a sore neck today when I woke up and I wasn't feeling all my serve, I don't know if it had anything to do with that."
"But I was returning good, hitting the ball clean from the back of the court (and) moved forward well, so it was good."
Murray will now play either Serbian No.1 seed Novak Djokovic or fifth-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer in the semis on Friday night.
The Scotsman has spent exactly 10 hours on court so far, which compares favourably with the seven hours and 43 minutes Djokovic had needed to reach the last eight, while the nine hours and 26 minutes Ferrer had already been on court could play into Murray's hands if they are to meet again.
"Yeah, I'd hope so, I mean, I haven't played over two hours really for the last few matches, so, yeah, I feel fresh," he added.
"Hopefully that will be to my advantage going into the weekend."
"I have to play a lot of long rallies, for sure, against the guys that are still left in the tournament."
"So I'll need my legs to be fresh for the next few matches."
Twelve months ago Murray managed to get past Ferrer in the semi-finals but was then taken apart by Djokovic in the decider and while he respects both of them he is hoping for another shot at the world No.1.
"I saw Novak's match with Lleyton (Hewitt)," Murray said. "He was hitting the ball very well."
"David, I saw a bit of his match with (Richard) Gasquet."
"He's always solid, he's always very good (and) he never plays poor matches."
"I've always liked playing against him (Djokovic)."
"And, yeah, after the year that he had, the loss (in last year's final) didn't look so bad six months later."
"But I'd like to get the chance to play him again (because) it would be a good marker to see how I've improved since last year."