BEEN there, done it, got the T-shirt. Andy Murray's wife Kim might have declined to look out the Parental Advisory top she memorably wore following a fiesty Australian Open semi-final with Tomas Berdych but from the Czech's point of view the content of this latest semi-final setback must have been equally X-rated.

The 2010 SW19 runner up had longed for a watershed moment to break the glass ceiling separating him from the game's biggest hitters but grinding out Grand Slam final appearances has simply become second nature to the Scot. This was Murray's 20th major semi-final, and by the end of it he had his 11th Grand Slam final to look forward to - one more even than Fred Perry, the man whose clothing brand he once wore, achieved back in the late 1930s.

With Milos Raonic waiting there, and not Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic for once, most would swear that the Scot's chances of a second Wimbledon triumph have never been greater.

It is often said in sport that there is nothing more agonising than losing at the last four stage and Berdych personifies this misery. Since reaching the 2010 final - overcoming both Djokovic and Federer to get there - the 6ft 5 in Czech has reached this stage of Grand Slams four times, only for Murray to delight in slamming the door shut in his face on three occasions and Stan Wawrinka to oblige on the other. Murray, by contrast, is developing a handy knack of prevailing at this stage. Aside from a heart-breaker to an in-form Andy Roddick back in 2009, he has only ever lost in the last four of any major to Federer, Djokovic and Rafa Nadal.

Sir Alex Ferguson, a family friend and lucky charm who was present at both of the Scot's Grand Slam wins to date, sat and drank it all in from the Royal Box. Semi-finals are typically cagey affairs but the 29-year-old's big game experience gave this 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 win in just shy of two hours all the intrigue of a routine outing for the 2nd XI at Rochdale. Ferguson's success-laden 27 year-stint at Old Trafford was a tribute to continually putting in the requisite work to place yourself in a winning position and it is to be hoped that Murray too is finally now in place to reap the rewards which his hard work deserves.

For the second match running, the Scot was forced to follow Roger Federer onto Centre Court, entering to a sparse crowd un-befitting to a match of this magnitude. Only once, in the opening throes of his second-round match against Yen-Hsun Lu, had Murray been behind in this tournament, and serving first here - in the sure knowledge that Raonic, his victim in the Queen's Club final a fortnight ago, awaited - gave him the chance to ease into an early lead.

Two early volleys gave the Scot one point at the net, but most exchanges were brutal ones conducted from the back of the court. Two Berdych forehand mistakes and a double fault, with Murray sneaking in like a goalkeeper at a penalty shoot-out, gave the World No 2 an early service break but he couldn't consolidate it. The Czech gambled into the net to punch a volley away and we were back on serve.

If Berdych harboured fresh hope of a second SW19 final at this point, it was to prove entirely illusory. Another break point surfaced for the Scot as Berdych served at 3-4, and when he ventured into the tramlines again Murray had the balls in his hand to serve for the first set. An ace out wide on set point meant the Czech would have to do things the hard way.

The key phase of the match, as Murray conceded afterwards, arrived around the mid-point of the second set. First Berdych, serving at 2-2, reeled off two aces in a row to save two break points, Murray almost careering into the umpires' chair as he scampered vainly after a drop volley.

Then it was the Scot who had a couple of his own to fend off, producing his best tennis at moments of crisis as he has for most of the tournament. It wasn't until the next game that the pressure finally told, Berdych netting to give the Scot a second set advantage at 4-3 which he never gave up.

Murray said the physically-imposing Berdych had "bullied" him earlier in his career, but now it was Murray who was stealing his dinner money. Another double break point came along with the Czech serving at 2-1 in the third, pressure which told as another forehand went awry. When one last desperate Berdych backhand could only loop limply into the net, he had gone out with a whimper and the World No 2 was into Wimbledon final number three.

He consoled his opponent at the net, looked to the heavens in a replica of his 2013 celebration here, then waved and threw his sweatbands to the crowd, while up in the players' box, Ivan Lendl might just have suppressed a smile. The Czech had declined the opportunity to join his countryman's entourage back in 2014, but has now helped the Scot to 11 straight wins since returning to his coaching team ahead of Queen's Club.

Like that week, the Scot's Wimbledon adventure will end with a final against Milos Raonic. The big-serving Canadian is a dangerous opponent who will fancy his chances in his first major final. But Murray has been there and done it.