Australian Open 2016 Results: Friday Bracket Winners, Scores and Top Stats

Andy Murray and Milos Raonic took center stage Friday at the 2016 Australian Open and delivered a memorable semifinal encounter. In the end, it was Murray earning the last berth in the final of the season's first major.

The two-time Grand Slam champion will join Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber in pursuit of the marquee title during championship weekend at Melbourne Park. He'll be looking for his first Aussie Open crown in his fifth finals appearance.

Let's check out how the hard-fought match played out at Rod Laver Arena. That's followed by a recap of the action and a look ahead toward the men's final.

Friday's Singles Result

Round	Winning Player	Losing Player	Score
Semifinals	(2) Andy Murray	(13) Milos Raonic	4-6, 7-5, 6-7, 6-4, 6-2

Day 12 Recap

Raonic is making steady progress toward being able to contend on the sport's biggest stages. He's long possessed the necessary power, but he's starting to add more versatility to his game by coming to the net to earn some more easy points instead of relying heavily on baseline rallies.

That said, the more consistent Murray managed to solve the puzzle just in time to stage a comeback over the final two sets. The Scot had fewer winners (72-38) and aces (23-9), but his unforced-error total was also far lower than his more aggressive counterpart (78-28).

Murray has always used his terrific defense to wear down opponents. Making them hit that extra shot or two doesn't seem like much during any given point, but it takes a cumulative toll and, when facing a player like Raonic, leads to a lot of errors as well.

It paid off late in the match. Murray noted afterward that his Canadian foe, who had already played nine sets over his previous two matches, started to fade, per the BBC.

"He definitely slowed down in the fifth set for sure which was unfortunate for him," Murray said. "I obviously got a bit lucky on that but you just try to focus on your side of the court."

Brad Gilbert of ESPN credited the No. 2 seed for raising his level late to get the victory:

The win earns Murray yet another shot at Djokovic in the Aussie Open final. He's faced the top-ranked player in the world in this situation on three occasions and came up short each time. His other loss in the tournament's championship match came to Roger Federer.

He did beat Djokovic for the Wimbledon title in 2013. Since then, however, the rivalry has turned mostly one-sided, as Sky Sports News pointed out:

Murray has played well enough throughout the tournament to at least give himself a puncher's chance. It also helps that Djokovic hasn't been at his best—aside from the first two sets against Federer in the semifinals—which leaves the door open for what would be a minor upset.

All told, the matches on the men's side have been great during the business end of the event. That trend should continue in the final, regardless of which player wins the title.

All match stats courtesy of the tournament's official site.