He has now denied the talented Brit in three Australian Open
finals and has shown no mercy in doing so, as he continues to redefine the
boundaries and laws in the men’s game.
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| Djokovic won the battle of endurance in Australia |
Victory over Murray in today’s final earned Djokovic his fifth
title in Australia, his eighth Grand Slam overall, that’s the same amount as Agassi,
Connors and Lendl. In this sort of form a ninth major won’t be too far away.
In a nutshell this was one of those déjà vu moments for
Murray and for those of you who remember the final here two years ago or the
pair’s meeting at the US Open back in September the storylines were pretty much
identical.
For two and a half hours the tennis was outstanding, but ultimately
for Murray exhausting. Sets one and two were decided by tie breaks, one going
either way. By the third Murray was fading, by the fourth totally spent as
Djokovic’s battle-hardened body prevailed 7-6(5) 6-7(2) 6-3 6-0.
As a tournament of course this is progress for Murray, who
was competing in his first slam final since his memorable Wimbledon triumph in
2013. However the way he collapsed when leading 2-0 in the third must be a
cause for concern.
Like in his opening rounds Murray was aggressive from the
off, attacking with his forehand, stepping up on the baseline whenever
possible.
As often is the case when these two meet breaks of serve
were a regular occurrence. Djokovic broke the Murray serve twice in the opening
set which he served for at 5-3 however he couldn’t close it out and required a
tie break to finally move ahead.
That could easily have been different; Murray led 4-2 in the
breaker and missed a makeable volley at 5-5 but let Djokovic off the hook.
First blood to the Serb.
The second set began in better fashion for the British
number one as he capitalised on an early opportunity to take a 2-0 lead. That
was quickly taken away from him. In another turn of events Djokovic broke twice
to lead 4-2, yet still there was time for the plot to thicken as back came
Murray to level the match at a set apiece.
However, in two and a half hours the points had been physical,
brutal, draining even for the spectators and Murray’s body repelled first.
The Brit made an early move to take a 2-0 lead in the third
but from there it was one way traffic, with Djokovic winning 12 of the last 13
games to take the title in something of an anti-climax.
Over the majority of this fortnight Murray has been the predator
in his route to the final, however when it came down to the final two the predator
quickly became the prey. In survival of the fittest Djokovic is as fit as they
come.
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