ANDY MURRAY flourished as the pride of Glasgow as he rocked his way to yet another Davis Cup triumph.

The world No.3 put in an astonishing performance that blew away Thanasi Kokkinakis at the Emirates Arena to kick off Great Britain's Davis Cup semi-final against Australia on a firm footing.

His 19-year-old opponent put up a plucky fight in the first set, but was completely outclassed by the Scot in a whirlwind 6-3, 6-0, 6-3 triumph that took less than two hours.

The atmosphere at the arena in the east end of Glasgow during the tie with the USA in March was a major reason for bringing this vital clash back to Clyde side.

And Murray revealed the impact the home support made on him as he strolled to his 29th Davis Cup career win.

"I don’t know why I play better when I play for my country. But I have," he said.

"Obviously it gives you a lift. It’s a big occasion and to have the support behind you makes a huge difference.

"The last time we played here was extremely loud and, again today, the support was fantastic. They made loads of noise from the first point to the last.

"Having held a Davis Cup tie here before helps. The crowd sort of understand exactly what it’s all about – and they know they can really get into it. They were excellent again during my match."

Murray announced prior to this weekend's semi-final tie that every ace he serves from now until the end of the season will see him donate £50 to charity.

Following yesterday's walk in the park, the 500 quid winging its way to Unicef was about all he dropped in a match that was finished in just one hour and 47 minutes.

In truth, it was a contest that looked over long before that. Within an hour and nine minutes the Scot was already two sets up and effectively out of sight.

He didn't have it all his own way in a testing opening set, though. Up against a fearless Kokkinakis whose powerful forehands constantly pushed Murray back - or at least attempted to - the home favourite had to wait until the sixth game before he eventually broke the 19-year-old who volleyed long.

On his own serve the world No.3 was formidable, starting and ending the first set winning to love.

It was a theme that continued throughout the match with Murray claiming 93 per cent of all points on his first serve, a whopping 41 times out of 54.

Any resistance Kokkinakis had shown in the opening exchanges soon disintegrated in front of a partisan Glasgow crowd as he trudged back on court for round two. Indeed, the second set was a complete whitewash as the Glasgow-born ace blew away the Aussie 6-0 in just 25 minutes, an experience the Scot even allowed himself to enjoy. Well... just a wee bit.

“Definitely, at times you can appreciate what’s happening," said Murray, "but it’s very important to maintain the right shot selection , you know, not drop your intensity at all."

By the time the third set got underway the world No.72 managed to cobble together three holds of serve to regain pride, yet it did not stop a rampant Murray from mauling his way to victory. Sealed with an unstoppable return, the victory was greeted with a roar from the crowd and a frantic series of fist pumps and screams back to the jubilant thousands around him from the man that could very well appear again tomorrow alongside his brother Jamie in the doubles against Lleyton Hewitt and Sam Groth.

"The crowd was behind him and he played very well today," said Kokkinakis, who was then asked if it was a sore defeat to take.

"A little bit, I got killed! But I have got to be resilient."