Andy Murray set his sights on getting the better of an old friend after ending home hopes in the Australian Open in ruthless style in Melbourne.

Murray silenced a 15,000-strong crowd on Rod Laver Arena by using all his experience to beat talented teenager Nick Kyrgios 6-3 7-6 (7/5) 6-3 and set up a clash with Czech Tomas Berdych, who had earlier dispatched Rafael Nadal in similar fashion.

Berdych is coached by Murray's long-term friend and former assistant coach Dani Vallverdu, who - along with fitness trainer Jez Green - left the Murray camp at the end of last season.

"It will be one of the most important things because Murray plays on patterns," former world No.4 and British Eurosport pundit Greg Rusedski said.

"On his forehand in his forehand corner he goes cross court almost all the time, in his backhand corner with his forehand it's always inside out. His second serves are predominantly on the backhand side and the serve is short.

"So for all of those little key areas, Dani will tell Berdych 'Be prepared for this at this stage, this is what's going to happen here.' When you've been a friend of Andy and coached him for so long, you're going to know those sorts of areas."

Murray was reluctant to discuss Vallverdu in his post-match press conference, but joked: "We'll see how the match plays out and what the tactics are and stuff.

"But I also know what Dani thinks of Berdych's game because he's told me, so it works both ways."

Victory over Kyrgios improved Murray's record against Australian players to 11-0 and saw him produce 13 aces and just one double fault, with the only minor blip coming when he let a break of serve slip in the third set.

That was the only time Murray faced break points and Kyrgios was quick to back Murray to go all the way to Sunday's final and claim his third grand slam title.

"It was tricky because it was a very strong breeze," Murray said. "When you were down the far end of the court you had to do a lot more defending.

"If you tried to play with any sort of height the ball was dropping short and it was very easy to attack so I tried to just keep the ball low from that end, use a lot of slice and played pretty flat - I think I did that quite well."

While Murray's efforts took the Rod Laver Arena crowd out of the equation and improved his record against Australian opponents to 11-0, he was unsure if it was a step up from his fourth-round win over 10th seed Grigor Dimitrov.

Murray and the Bulgarian played four sets of absorbing tennis, widely considered the best contest of the tournament.

"I would say the match against Dimitrov was a very high level. It was a clean match, both of us were striking the ball well," he said.

"But then tonight...I just tried to play the best with what the conditions were allowing you to do."

Kyrgios was the first teenager since Roger Federer in 2001 to make the last eight at two grand slams and has been touted as the player most likely to lead a renaissance of Australian men's tennis.

As talented as Kyrgios may be, Murray demonstrated how much he still has to learn if he wants to join the elite, making the Australian fight for every point while the Scot's composure at important moments was critical.

"It's incredible how many balls he gets back into play," Kyrgios said of the former U.S. Open and Wimbledon champion. "There were points I'd be winning five times over, he'd be making me play an extra ball.

"Those guys are unbelievable athletes. They're another level. I think that's what stands out most."

Kyrgios could be heard during the match complaining that his troublesome back was "cooked" and added: "Two weeks ago I wasn't even sure I'd be playing the event. It's just been a massive couple of weeks just trying to get fit.

"I'm actually happy. I wanted to win tonight, but having said that, it's been a massive couple of weeks. I am just happy that I was able to compete. Obviously quarter-finals isn't too bad either."