No matter who his adversary was, whether it be Federer, Nadal, or Wawrinka, Murray was unable to leave behind this mental block represented by the decisive matches in the Grand Slam finals.
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epa05137543 Novak Djokovic (C) of Serbia celebrates his win against Andy Murray of the United Kingdom during the Men’s final at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 31 January 2016.
Emerson won his home major title between 1961 and 1967, an achievement that went unmatched in the 49 years since. Although one might say the pressure of a Grand Slam final might prove overwhelming for some tennis players.
For a man who has owned the year’s first Grand Slam for five of the past six years, Djokovic’s celebrations were subdued and he gave Murray a consoling pat on the chest as they shook hands. “Everything is going well privately, as well, so I feel like I’m at the point in my life where everything is working in harmony”.
“I try to still follow the same kind of lifestyle and routine, things that I’ve been doing all these years that have been helping me to get to where I am”.
The defending champion was at his ruthless best under the lights at the Rod Laver Arena, mauling Murray in the baseline duels and closing out the match in two hours and 53 minutes.
The 28-year-old Murray had his share of distractions in Australia.
Andy Murray and his wife Kim are expecting their first child in the coming weeks, and Murray announced more than a month ago that he would leave the Australian Open immediately if his wife goes into labor.
Compounding his emotional fragility was the collapse of Kim’s father Nigel Sears, who was courtside as coach of Ana Ivanovic during his charge’s third-round match.
The slow start, in which he trailed 0-5 in 19 minutes, was partly a outcome of all that he had been dealing with, Murray said. “Thank you so much for all of your support and I’ll be on the next plane home”, the Scot said at the on-court awards ceremony.
“First of all I need to pay the respect to Andy”, Djokovic said.
“I believe that all the guys that are out there fighting each week to get to No. 1 are very hungry to get to No. 1”, he said.
Murray has had a lot on his mind this time. “I want to enjoy, and I will, but it’s not going to go for more than a few days”. I’d like to congratulate Novak. “It’s been hard. Regardless of today’s result, it’s been hard”.
“I’m proud of the way I fought and managed to get myself back into the match”.
Djokovic equaled Roy Emerson’s record of six Australian titles and won his 11th Grand Slam championship, moving him into fifth place alongside Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver on the all-time list for most major titles and closing the gap on Roger Federer (17) and Rafael Nadal (14).
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Murray became only the second man to lose five finals at one major – Ivan Lendl lost five and won three U.S. Open finals in the 1980s.
