Djokovic beat Murray, won the Australian Open title
Melbourne: Novak Djokovic wore down Andy Murray in a four-set final to clinch the professional era’s first hat-trick of Australian Open titles in attritional style on Sunday.
It was Djokovic’s fourth Australian crown and his sixth Grand Slam title overall, and confirmed him as the game’s premier player.
Murray, the British world number three, began strongly but he battled a left hamstring injury and blistered feet as Djokovic stepped up, winning the important points and most of the lung-busting long rallies.
“I congratulate Novak. His record here is absolutely incredible and there are very few people who have managed to do what he’s done here. He’s a very deserved champion,” Murray said.
It continued Djokovic’s dominance on the Melbourne hardcourt surface and capped an impressive fortnight where he recovered from a draining five-setter over five hours with Stanislas Wawrinka to score emphatic wins over Tomas Berdych and David Ferrer to reach the final.
And the Serb had to fight off three break points on his opening service in the second set as Murray remained in control.
Yet again both players held their serve and the final went into a second tiebreaker, but this time Djokovic was the steadier player winning 7/3 to level the match at the 2hr 13 min mark.
The turning point came in the eighth game of the third set when Djokovic won a psychologically important point off an exhausting 36-stroke rally, leaving the Serb smiling and the Scot gasping.
Djokovic turned up the heat and got the first service break of the final, after 2hr 51min, on his third break point and then served out for a two sets to one lead.
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