Andy Murray tearfully told his pregnant wife Kim he would be on “the next flight home” after being outclassed by Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open final.
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Djokovic broke Murray in the first game in the third set as it seemed the Briton’s spirit had been broken and Djokovic won the second game to love in eight minutes.
Federer, who lost to Djokovic in the semifinals, remains at No. 3, Stan Wawrinka at 4 and Rafael Nadal, a first-round loser to Fernando Verdasco in Melbourne, rounds out the top 5. He would also equal Roy Emerson’s record of six Australian Open titles.
Djokovic would appear to be the favourite with a ideal 5-0 record in his previous finals at Melbourne Park, while Murray is 0-4, with three losses to the top-ranked Serb.
It’s going to be a nervous grand slam final for British tennis star and two time Grand Slam victor Andy Murray who is expecting the birth of his first child any moment now. “I don’t take anything for granted, even though I won last four out of five Grand Slams, played five finals out of five Grand Slams last that I played”. Murray also defeated Djokovic at the 2012 Olympics in the gold medal match played at Wimbledon.
“Hail King Nole… 6 Australian Opens and, ominously, putting some distance on Muzz and Fed in the process… now in a league of his own” – one-time Australian Open semi-finalist and sports administrator Paul McNamee.
Murray contributed to his downfall, a double-fault handed his first service game to his opponent, but the depth and accuracy of Djokovic’s groundstrokes had the Scot chasing shadows on the Rod Laver Arena.
He added, “Thank you to my team”.
“I need to pay respects to Andy and his team for having another great tournament”, Djokovic said.
“Thank you so much for all of your support and I’ll be on the next plane home”, he said in a faltering voice.
The win moves Djokovic equal with Roy Emerson on six Australian Opens, and equal with Rod Laver on 11 grand slams. However, some unforced errors from Murray unfortunately gifted the second set as well to the Serbian. But, you know, of course, I don’t underestimate him.
Murray broke back in the sixth game to make it 3-3 and extended the match to a tie-break.
If Murray was going to deny the Serb in a five-set final for the second time in his career he would have to do what only one man – Jurgen Melzer – had done before, beat Djokovic from two sets down.
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 five Grand Slam finals at any one major.
Murray and Soares will split a winners cheque of 635,000 Australian dollars while the Scot is set to climb to number two when the latest ATP doubles rankings emerge on Monday.
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Britain’s Jamie Murray gained an early claim to bragging rights over younger brother Andy when he combined with Brazil’s Bruno Soares to win the Australian Open men’s doubles title early on Sunday. For Murray, the win would constitute his third GS and his first ever down under – that despite making the final four times before (and losing to Djokovic every time). “This is exactly where you want to be”, Djokovic said.
