MELBOURNE, Australia – Twenty-four hours after heavy favorite Serena Williams went down in the women’s final, world No. 1 Novak Djokovic made certain he would not be felled by the same fate in the Australian Open men’s decider.
Djokovic, 28, continued his dominance in men’s tennis with a hard-fought yet decisive triumph over world No. 2 Andy Murray in what was a rematch of the men’s final from a year ago, the Serbian capturing a record-tying sixth title here Sunday with a 6-1, 7-5, 7-6 (3) performance.
It was another chapter in what has become the Book of Novak in men’s tennis, written on court over the last 15 months with his racket, shoes and killer confidence.
With the title, Djokovic claims an 11th Grand Slam trophy and third in a row, expanding his recent ruling over what many call “the Golden Era” of the men’s game with Djokovic, Murray, Roger Federer , Rafael Nadal and Stan Wawrinka as the leading cast of characters in the Grand Slam conversation.
There was no discussing who was better on this night, however, as Djokovic ran through Murray from the start, earning a fifth title here in six years (in addition to his 2008 victory). He has beaten Murray in four of those.
"I feel like I’ve been here before," Murray joked on court, grabbing a laugh from the crowd, after the nearly three-hour final.
"I want to say congratulations to Novak and his team, he’s been incredibly consistent," Murray added. "Sorry I couldn’t get it done tonight. It’s been a tough few weeks for me. It's very, very tough for me... but this is an amazing atmosphere."
Djokovic called Murray "a great champion, great competitor and a great friend. I wish you and Kim a very happy and healthy delivery of your baby. I hope you will experience a feeling like no other, because that’s what happened for me."
Murray came close once again at Melbourne Park , but fell at the seventh and final hurdle. His game, tailor-made for the Rod Laver Arena hard court, has proved to be a lesser version of Djokovic’s Gumby-like defense-to-offense approach. Murray now trails their head-to-head 22-9 overall.
Djokovic, much like he did in the semifinals against Federer, blasted out of the starting blocks, winning the first set in 30 minutes 6-1 behind 10 winners and 81 percent of first serve points won.
The second set was an engaging and drawn-out affair, as Murray found his feet and the two players regularly exchanged in baseline bashes. Djokovic would break in the all-important seventh game, only to be broken right back, Murray securing his first break of the night with a sizzling backhand crosscourt winner that Djokovic challenged but was shown byHawk-Eye to be in.
They’d both hold in subsequent games, but Djokovic broke again in the 11th game and then served out the 80-minute set for a 2-0 lead, saving a break point and then watching a Murray forehand crash into the net. Murray was the aggressor in this set (21 winners to eight), but also had more unforced errors, hitting 34 to Djokovic’s 19.
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