ANDY'S MASTER BLASTER; SPORTS FILE.

Byline: By ROB FRASER in Madrid

ICE-COOL Andy Murray roared back from a set down to beat Roger Federer and seal his place in the final of the Madrid Masters.

Murray also gained revenge for his defeat by the world No.2 in last month's US Open final with yesterday's 3-6 6-3 7-5 victory in the Spanish capital.

Now the super Scot faces either Rafael Nadal or Gilles Simon in today's final.

Murray was delighted with the way he turned the match around.

He said: "When Roger gets ahead he plays really aggressive, he plays with a lot of confidence and really races through his service games.

"I was lucky in the second set. I managed to go ahead early and relax a bit from there. I had to try and take my chances which is tough against him because he plays so well on the big points.

"I served great and that was the key. I didn't give him too many chances and that was the reason I won."

Murray is looking for his second successive Masters Series title after victory in Cincinnati in August.

And he would love another meeting with world No.1 Nadal who he lost to at the same event last season but beat for the first time in the US Open semi-finals.

Murray said: "It would be great. I played him last year here and we had a really good match.

"He's number one in the world and has had a great year.

"It's a Masters Series final - this is all kind of new to me. I've only been in one final so I'll just try to enjoy it."

World No.4 Murray lost 6-2 7-5 6-2 to Federer at Flushing Meadows in what was the Scot's first Grand Slam final.

And he had to do it the hard way to avoid another defeat by the 27-year-old yesterday after losing the first set.

The first breakthrough came in the sixth game when Murray overhit a forehand to leave Federer with a 4-2 advantage.

The Swiss star did not let that advantage slip as the Scot dropped his first set this week.

Murray had won two of his four career meetings with Federer and knew all was not lost.

And he broke in the fourth game of the second set to level the match and keep alive his hopes of winning a fourth ATP title of the year.

In the final set, Murray was on top throughout and often had Federer in trouble on his own serve. But Andy had towait until the 11th game to finally make it count. After failing to make the most of six break points in the set it was lucky number seven to take a 6-5 lead.

Murray then held his serve to take the victory following an enthralling match of just under two hours.

CAPTION(S):

Fed and buried: Battling Andy Murray kept his cool as he battled back from a set down to beat Roger Federer and set up dream date in today's Masters final; Shake, rattle and roll: Federer congratulates brilliant Murray