Andy Murray booked a place in the final of the Australian Open but it was his fiance Kim Sears who grabbed the headlines after apparently serving up a foul-mouthed volley of her own, aimed at Murray's opponent Tomas Berdych and his team.
The clash had been built up as a grudge match as Murray was up against his former coach Dani Vallverdu. He left Murray's team last year after five years working with the Scot and took up a role coaching Berdych, and there appeared to be plenty of needle on and off the court during the first set.
Murray went a break down early on in the encounter but, after recovering to break Berdych back, he "turned in the direction of Vallverdu sitting in his opponent's box and let out a wild roar in celebration", says the Daily Mail.
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Berdych appeared unimpressed, but Sears, in Murray's box, liked what she saw and was caught on camera muttering what looked very much like a string of obscenities.
Lip readers concluded that she had said: "F****** have that, you Czech flash f***". Sears was clearly in no mood to be trifled with, adds the Mail, and later in the game she mouthed "oh, for f***'s sake" when a split screen shot of her and Berdych's girlfriend, Ester Satorova, apepared on the giant screen.
Back on court the former Wimbledon champion Murray ended up losing the first set in a tiebreak, but roared back in emphatic style to win the second 6-0. Berdych never fully recovered his composure after that and Murray went on to win in four sets: 6-7, 6-0, 6-3, 7-5.
Sunday's showdown with either Novak Djokovic or defending champion Stanislas Wawrinka will be Murray's first Grand Slam final since winning Wimbledon in 2013 and suggests he is back to his best after undergoing back surgery just over a year ago.
Wawrinka was at the centre of an off-court row two months ago when Roger Federer's wife was heard calling him a "crybaby" as the pair played each other.
