Wimbledon 2016: Andy Murray to face Milos Raonic in final after straight sets win over Tomas Berdych

Only Milos Raonic now stands between Andy Murray and a second Wimbledon title after the British number one breezed past a decidedly under par and error-strewn Tomas Berdych 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 in their semi-final clash on centre court. It was the fifth successive win for Murray over the 10th seed, who surprisingly failed to pose more of a threat than his opponent had received in earlier rounds against the likes of Liam Broady, Yen-Hsun Lu, John Millman and Nick Kyrgios.

It was certainly a world away from the intoxicating five-set quarter-final triumph over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Those anticipating a degree of animosity between the two players after their controversial last-four meeting at the 2015 Australian Open were also left disappointed, although in truth not even a repeat of that famously explicit outburst from Murray's wife Kim could have distracted the focus away from an abject showing from Berdych, who ended his 17-month partnership with Daniel Vallverdu in May after a humiliating straight-sets defeat to David Goffin at the Italian Open.

Friday's match began with both players securing a break of serve each, but it was Murray who capitalised on several unforced errors to seal the decisive second and lead 5-3. He then produced an ace to hold and confidently take the first set in a quick time of 36 minutes.

2010 runner-up Berdych, who was reportedly turned down by Ivan Lendl prior to his compatriot rejoining the Murray camp last month, saved two break points and sent down his own pair of aces to lead 3-2 in the second set, but a backhand into the net quickly handed the world number two another decisive advantage. Murray then held before breaking again to leave him with a mountain to climb.

Tsonga's resilience in recovering from such a deficit to take Murray all the way on Wednesday should have handed Berdych a much-needed confidence boost, but the Czech was totally unable to iron out the frustrating errors in his usually devastating forehand which cost him the chance to potentially go a break up in the third.

Yet another botched forehand into the right tramline saw him give up two more break points to trail 3-1. He managed to hold serve for the remainder of a heavy defeat but was unable to threaten any sort of a comeback. Sunday's final will be Murray's 11th in Grand Slam competition and his third at Wimbledon, where he lost to Roger Federer in 2012 before bouncing back against Novak Djokovic a year later to become the first British winner at the All-England Club since Fred Perry in 1936.

"I'm obviously very happy," he told BBC Sport after the most straightforward of wins. "It was a good match today. The middle part of the second set was really key. Obviously to make a Wimbledon final is a good achievement and I've got one more to go on Sunday.

"The older you get you never know how many chances you're going to get to play in Grand Slam finals. I'm glad I managed to get through today. The older you get you're more experienced and it helps you deal with the nerves better. You learn from those matches for sure, those experiences in the past have helped me a lot, playing against some of the best players of all time."

Raonic overcame a 2-1 deficit to outlast Federer in five sets earlier in the day and will be the first Canadian men's singles player ever to contest a Grand Slam final.