Andy Murray reaches Wimbledon final with straight-sets win over Berdych

• Murray cruises past No10 seed with 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 victory
• Scot will take on Milos Raonic in Sunday’s final

Andy Murray celebrates after a straight sets win over Tomas Berdych. Photograph: Tom Jenkins for the Guardian

Sunshine bathed Centre Court on Friday evening to embroider a win by Andy Murray that catapulted him into the Wimbledon final for a third time, a couple of hours after Roger Federer had departed under a cloud.

He has now reached 11 finals in the four grand slam tournaments, one more than Fred Perry. The History Man is on the move again. Meanwhile the Swiss’s defeat over five sets by Milos Raonic earlier in the afternoon no doubt dismayed everyone from Sir Alex Ferguson in the Royal Box to that fabled author of fiction, Jeffrey Archer, consigned to the paid seats – but Murray’s win over the world No7, Tomas Berdych, was a thing of joy, an uplifting conclusion to a ragged day’s entertainment.

Murray was well worth his 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 win in just under two hours and could hardly be in better shape to face Raonic, a major final debutant at 25. He has a 6-3 career edge over him, the latest in the Queen’s final three weekends ago.

The Scot will also experience something new : a grand slam decider without the company of either Federer or Novak Djokovic. They have been his only opponents at the end of a major – twice at Wimbledon, where he lost to the Swiss in 2012 and beat the Serb the following year.

Murray has stuttered eight times in the ultimate test but, at 29 and with Ivan Lendl by his side again, he is playing the best tennis of his career. He will start favourite against Raonic and not just on sentiment, according to Berdych.

“The fact that probably his biggest rival, Novak, is not in the draw any more definitely helps him,” the Czech said. “He has the tools to go all the way. Andy is one of the best in eliminating the big [serving] weapon of an opponent. I think he actually likes to play the big guys, to come up with his creative game, try to break their rhythm.”

Raonic was a not altogether convincing winner. Federer fell – metaphorically and literally – for the first time in his career, according to his own recollection, while Murray stood tall against a near contemporary who he said beforehand used to “bully me a bit on court” when they were young – and whom his wife, Kim, had famously bad-mouthed during their semi-final at the Australian Open last year.

Was Murray shocked by Federer’s defeat? “Yes and no. Roger’s won here I think seven times, and been in the final I think a couple more times. So anytime he loses, it’s somewhat of a surprise. But Milos has been playing really good tennis this year – and also on the grass.”

In a match of even quality but not many dramatic moments Murray and Berdych exchanged early breaks before they hit any sort of rhythm.

Murray, once he had settled, took the first set with his second ace after 35 minutes. There were few early highs, fewer lows.

A careless forehand and a couple of other poor choices cost him two break points in the long sixth game but he served his way out of trouble.

There was a sense that Murray could get the job done in good time if he put more consistent pressure on the fragile Berdych serve and he duly broke again to lead 4-3. Berdych all but handed him the second set with a loose and lazy service game, Murray sinking the dagger, a forehand that left the Czech clueless at the net, after an hour and 22 minutes.

From there to the line was pretty straightforward, as Murray held his nerve and Berdych scrambled about vainly for an opening under pressure. Murray just closed him down.

Centre Court needed something to rebuild shattered spirits after the first semi-final, in which Federer fell before the crude power of the young Canadian, his country’s first finalist in a men’s grand slam event. It was not a great match – certainly not in the same neighbourhood as the Swiss’s exhilarating comeback from two sets down to beat Marin Cilic in the quarter-finals on Wednesday – and, after he crashed to the turf in the third game of the fifth set, banging the left knee that required surgery in February, we were witness to the pain-filled collapse of a legend.

He had his chances – most notably three break points in the ninth game of the fourth set, as well as going 40-0 up on his serve at 5-6 before serving two double faults to hand Raonic parity in the match – and he was heroic in batting back most of Raonic’s machine-gun serves. But time did for him in the end. This was his best, and perhaps final, chance to reach for an 18th major title.

As he described his performance later, “It wasn’t bad. It wasn’t outstanding. It was something I can live with.” He was “sad and angry” at himself, he said. “I don’t slip a lot. I don’t ever fall down.”

He fell here. Can he rise up again? Not even he knows. “This one clearly hurts because I felt I could have had it. So close.”

But, even if Federer had made the final – as the entire place was willing him to – it is uncertain if his body would have survived a third searching examination in a row.

Indeed he expressed concern about how his battered knee and the right thigh that he tweaked late in the fourth set might react overnight. Federer is 35 next month.

As for Raonic, he found his best tennis at the end – but there was some patchy stuff before it.

He did not properly start building points until the last set. If he cannot find more consistency in the final, he will do well to extend Murray.

“Today I sort of persevered,” was the winner’s prosaic summary. “I was plugging away. I was struggling through many parts of the match.”

He will have no such luxury on Sunday.