“OK, he has lost 10 of the past 11 but he has beaten Novak Djokovic in a Wimbledon final and a US Open final and other times as well”.
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MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) – Based on records alone, Novak Djokovic would appear to be the favorite in the Australian Open final against Andy Murray.
Murray, the brother of Andy who will contest the men’s singles final on Sunday, became the first British player to win the Australian Open men’s doubles title in 82 years, but he and partner Soares had to bounce back after losing the opening set. No matter that it was 1:10a.m. on the morning of his own Australian Open final, in which he’ll face No. 1 Novak Djokovic.
As Andy Murray pointed out, there are not many men who have reached five Australian Open finals.
“I have a very good shot if I play my best tennis”, he said.
“I think at the end of the fourth set I did very well”.
“It’s about what happens on Sunday”.
Popular usage to the contrary, the definition of insanity is not actually doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
A solid Murray volley brought up three more championship points and this time they converted, as Stepanek netted his return to confirm victory in two hours and 19 minutes. His wife, Kim, is due to give birth to their first child in February and he said he would fly home if she went into labour early. Murray, as should be done, played his game and won the set.
“I’ve played him many times and been in the situation before where I haven’t won specific tournaments, like Roland Garros for example, against players like [Rafael] Nadal who were dominating there”, the world number one said in his pre-match news conference.
Djokovic is at the top of his game, and he showed it by hammering Federer in the first two sets of their match.
After playing a remarkable tiebreaker to take a two-sets-to-one lead, Raonic was treated off court after the third game of the fourth set and then was broken at love at 3-3.
epa05132761 Andy Murray of Britain in action against Milos Raonic of Canada during the semi final match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 29 January 2016.
“It’s unfortunate… probably the most heartbroken I’ve felt on court, but that’s what it is”, Raonic said.
It has been a triumphant return for Murray’s coach Amelie Mauresmo, who came back into the Murray camp after just four months away following the birth of her first child, Aaron, in August.
“I’m not in the mental state where I would be seeing a doctor to get a recommendation today”.
“I relish every win and every final and every match now”, Williams said.
For now, Murray is planning on playing. It will also be the first time two brothers have played the singles and doubles finals at the same Grand Slam after Jamie Murray reached the men’s doubles final with his Brazilian partner Bruno Soares.
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This time, though he will have had 24 hours less than Djokovic to recover from his semi-final efforts, Murray will believe that he has the game, the mind and the fitness to get the job done.
