The tournament appeared to be set for a repeat of the 2012 final between Murray and Federer, only for Raonic to stun the seven-time Wimbledon winner over five sets.

The 29-year-old said: "It's obviously an opportunity. I put myself in a position to try and win the event again. It's against someone new that I'm playing against in the final.

"But Milos is a very tough opponent. He's played very well on the grass this year and has earned his right to the final by beating one of the best, if not the best player, ever at this event. So he deserves to be there.

"Obviously it's the first time I'll play a slam final against someone that isn't Roger or Novak. So that's different.

"But you never know how anyone's going to deal with the pressures of a slam final. So I just have to go out there and concentrate on my side, do what I can to prepare well for it and see what happens."

No British player has ever reached 11 grand slam finals before, with Murray surpassing the record he jointly held with Fred Perry.

He will now look to stage a repeat of the 2013 final when, a year after tearfully losing to Federer, Murray defeated Djokovic to end Perry's 77-year reign as the last home men's singles champion.

Murray said: "It would mean a lot, obviously. These tournaments are why I'm still playing and why I'm training hard and trying to win these events. That's what really motivates me.

"They're very hard competitions to win. I've been in the latter stages a number of times, won some, obviously lost some tough ones, as well.

"Wimbledon for a lot of the players, but for British players growing up, this is the biggest competition.

To get to play in front of a home crowd in a grand slam final is very, very rare. There's not many players that get the opportunity to do that.

"This one always feels a little bit more special."

Much will be made of the battle going on off the court as well as on it, with Murray back working with Ivan Lendl, the coach who guided him to his two slam titles, and Raonic now being helped by John McEnroe.

Lendl agreed to join Murray's team once more last month and the Scot hailed the impact of the eight-time slam winner.

"I don't think it's a coincidence," he said. "I obviously had the best years of my career with him. I wanted to work with Ivan again to try to help me win these events. That's the goal."

Saturday's women's final is rematch of the Australian Open showdown between Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber, in which the German surprisingly emerged victorious.

Should Williams win, she would equal Steffi Graf's Open era record of 22 grand slam singles titles.