Andy Murray sent Great Britain into the Davis Cup semi-finals for the first time since 1981 as he came from behind to beat Gilles Simon and complete a 3-1 victory over France.

Having overcome a groin complaint to win Saturday's doubles rubber with brother Jamie, world number three Murray dug deep to defeat Simon 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 6-0 in a match lasting three hours and 26 minutes at Queen's Club.

The home supporters were anxious in the first set, though, as a stunning forehand down the line earned Simon a break of serve for 2-1.

Simon needed a medical timeout for a knee injury but recovered to take the opener, and pushed an inconsistent Murray all the way in the second.

Murray was 4-1 down in the second-set tie-break, but won five out of the following six points and levelled the match with a huge serve that Simon had no answer to.

That proved the turning point. Murray had a double-break 3-0 lead in the third set and, even though he handed one back, was able to move in front.

Simon slipped on the grass in the fourth set, prompting treatment on his ankle, and the physical nature of the match took its toll as Murray earned Britain a semi-final against Australia with a fourth-set whitewash.

Australia were 2-0 down in their tie against Kazakhstan, but victory in Saturday's doubles kept their hopes alive before Lleyton Hewitt and Sam Groth won their Sunday singles matches against Aleksandr Nedovyesov and Mikhail Kukushkin to complete a famous turnaround.

On the other side of the draw, Argentina and Belgium had already booked their places in their respective ties against Serbia and Canada.

Dusan Lajovic managed to beat Diego Schwartzman to put Serbia on the board in a dead rubber, but  Filip Krajinovic retired hurt in his match against Carlos Berlocq as Argentina rounded off a 4-1 win.

Belgium went one better, as Kimmer Coppejans and Steve Darcis beat Frank Dancevic and Filip Peliwo respectively to complete a 5-0 whitewash of Canada.