It could be argued that with the seemingly impregnable Novak Djokovic awaiting in the final, Andy Murray will go into his semi-final against Milos Raonic today knowing he has to beat two man mountains if he is to win a first Australian Open title.

But the only thing Murray can do is control what happens on his side of the net and so he will be focusing on Raonic, which on the evidence of the year to date, is going to be a big enough challenge in itself.

The 6ft 5in Canadian is unbeaten in 2016, having won the title in Brisbane, having vastly improved many elements of his game, including his movement and returns.

Murray, who is trying to reach the final for the fifth time, knows that he will need to return well, stay focused and concentrate on producing his best tennis when he needs it most.

Events off the court have meant it has been a tougher fortnight than anyone could surely have imagined, with his father in law Nigel Sears recovering at home after collapsing at Melbourne Park and Murray’s wife Kim Sears due to have their first child early next month.

But Murray’s form has been solid and the way he played against David Ferrer in the quarter-finals has made him believe he is in the right kind of form to win.

“It’s tough to say because I could play terrible in the next match – that’s possible – but I do feel like I started to find my game a little bit more (against Ferrer),” Murray told the Melbourne Age, for whom he is writing a column.

“I was able to hit the ball a lot cleaner so I could come into the net, I hit a lot more winners than in my other matches which would suggest I’m feeling a lot more comfortable on the court.

“If I can keep progressing like that and playing that sort of game style where I’m being aggressive and a bit more unpredictable by coming forward, keep going for my serves and getting free points there, then it’ll make a big difference.”

In addition to his orange shoes, orange socks and orange sleeve on his right arm, Raonic has been wearing a gumshield, something he says stops him from grinding his teeth and more bizzarely, helps improve his posture.

“I’ve not seen that from a tennis player,” he said. “I've seen it obviously in other sports, but not really in tennis. I've heard that they have gumshields that supposedly help with your breathing. I don't know why he uses it but it could be for that. It’s possible that it’s for grinding his teeth but I'd imagine he's doing it for another reason.”

Should Murray get to the final it would be a double celebration in the family household after his brother Jamie Murray reached his third straight grand slam final yesterday.

The pair were already the first brothers ever to reach the semi-finals of the Australian Open of the singles and doubles.

Jamie Murray and new partner Bruno Soares of Brazil easily beat Frenchmen Lucas Pouille and Adrian Mannarino 6-3, 6-1, a superb achievement in just their third tournament together.

It seemed an odd decision, on the face of it, when Jamie announced late last year that he and Australian John Peers were to split up, after their best ever season which saw them reach the Wimbledon and US Open finals and go on to reach the ATP World Tour Finals.

But the quest for a first grand slam title led him to Soares, who is also searching for his first and the pair will play Daniel Nestor of Canada and Czech Radek Stepanek in tomorrow’s final.

The disappointment of missing out at Wimbledon and in New York is still fairly raw but Murray believes he has learned a lot.

“I think I know what to expect,” he said. “Obviously I came up on the wrong side the last two times I was there but it wasn’t like I played bad matches or anything like that.

“I fully trust myself that I can perform in those matches. I believe Bruno can as well. I think the kind mentality we’ve got will bode well, the kind of chemistry that we seem to have struck up these last couple of weeks will bode well for us. We’ll give it all we’ve got. We know it’s going to be a tough match.

Jamie has encountered Raonic on the doubles court but despite the improvement in the Canadian in the past few months, he still feels his brother will make the final.

“It will be a tough ask,” he said. “I am sure he will be feeling confident about his game but I still like Andy's chances. He tends to play well against big servers and I still feel that if Andy plays his best then his level is better than Raonic's.”

And should Andy reach the singles final, Scotland will have three finalists in Melbourne after Gordon Reid reached his first grand slam wheelchair singles final.

The Scot, who took out world No 1 Shingo Kunieda in the previous round, edged out Argentina’s Gustavo Fernandez 6-3, 6-7, 9-7 in an epic encounter he later described as “one of the toughest matches of his life”.

Reid will take on Joachim Gerard of Belgium in tomorrow’s final.