Australia has been beaten by Great Britain in the semi-finals of the Davis Cup after Andy Murray defeated Bernard Tomic in the reverse singles on Sunday.

The world No.3 was simply too strong for Tomic, claiming the match in straight-sets 7-5 6-3 6-2 to send his team into the final for the first time in 37 years.

The result brought an end to Lleyton Hewitt’s 16-year Davis Cup career after he and Sam Groth had gone down in the all-important doubles tie on Saturday.

Murray had teamed up with brother Jamie to win a pulsating five-set doubles rubber and give Great Britain a crucial advantage in front of their vocal home fans in Glasgow.

The Scotsman had earlier beaten youngster Thanasi Kokkinakis, while Tomic beat Dan Evans to square the ledger on the opening matchday.

Australia’s captain Wally Masur said Murray had clearly been the difference between the two sides.

“Andy was like a locomotive this weekend,” he said.

“I think you walk away from those ties and say: ‘Where do we need to get better?’ and ‘What do I need to improve?’. I think Andy showed our boys.”

Tomic, who moved into the world’s top 20 for the first time in his career following his win over Evans echoed his captain’s sentiments.

“He’s an amazing player,” said Tomic. “At the big moments when I had a little bit of a chance he was playing very well.

“Andy shows you every point why he’s one of the best players in the world right now He was 100 percent today.

“I tried but I couldn’t keep up to his level. It shows you, if you want to get to top five in the world, that’s what you have to do.”

Kokkinakis beat Evans in the dead-rubber reverse singles 7-5 6-4 to add weight to what might have been for the Aussies as they chased their first Davis Cup title since 2003.

Instead it will be Great Britain with a chance to win the title for the first time since 1936 in November’s final.

They’ll take on Belgium, who’ll host the decider, after they overcame Argentina in a tense contest that went down to the last rubber.