In a rematch of previous year, the top two players in the world, No. 1 Novak Djokovic and No. 2 Andy Murray, renew their rivalry for the Australian Open title.
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While Djokovic was further enhancing his reputation, Murray has the unwanted statistic of becoming only the second man in the post-1968 Open Era to lose 5 Grand Slam finals at any one major.
“Murray attacked gloriously and his net play become more of a threat as he broke back and got to within two points of squaring the match”.
But Murray, who has lost this event’s finale three times to the Serb, has also been reading a training manual by an ex-commando to help him with an even more important mission – becoming a father for the first time next month.
Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray will face off in the 2016 Australian Open final on Sunday at Rod Laver Arena.
Djokovic has now won a record-equalling six times in Melbourne to draw level with Roy Emerson and he boasts 11 major titles overall, climbing joint-fifth on the all-time list alongside Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg. Murray continued his unwanted streak, too, slumping to 0-5 in championship deciders Down Under. He’s the guy that made it happen for me to have success on the doubles court.
Murray saved one match-point with an ace, then a second when Djokovic hit a forehand long but the Serb stiffened his resolve to club the winning ace and extend his reign over Melbourne Park for another year. “He played well in his last couple of matches and we’ve played a bunch of times – hopefully this time there will be a different result”. Everything is going well privately, as well. “I’ll try to keep it that way”.
He dropped to his hands and knees and kissed the court, slapping it with his right hand, and went to the stands to hug Boris Becker, his coach since 2014.
“You’re a great champion, great friend, very committed to this sport”.
The 28-year-old Murray had his share of distractions in Australia.
His wife Kim is not due until early February and there has been no sign of early labor. He’s also won 10 of his last 11 matches against Murray.
During the trophy presentation on Sunday evening, Murray choked up while thanking his wife for her support.
“You’ve been a legend the last two weeks. We had them on the ropes in the second set and they hung in there”, Nestor said of Murray and Soares. “I’ll be on the next flight home”. “The hard work is worth it” Murray said.
“I’ve been held on flights for it feels like five days”, he said. I’m one week older than him so we have been travelling and competing together since we were juniors.
“I’m proud that I got into this position, just quite looking forward to getting home now”, Murray said.
Djokovic by contrast would come through his semi-final clash with World No. 3 Roger Federer in fine fashion, with the Serbian taking the game 6-1, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 to make himself the hot favourite for this encounter.
Into the tie-break, however, and Murray’s resolve crumbled as he served two double faults, his fourth and fifth of the match, to give Djokovic a 6-1 lead.
Angelique Kerber’s upset victory over Serena Williams in the Australian Open final on Saturday is expected to see her move from sixth to second on the WTA Tour rankings.
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Novak Djokovic left no room to question his dominance on Sunday night.
