Dad-to-be Murray paid the price for a slow start as he went down 6-1, 7-5, 7-6 (7/3) in a one-sided men’s final Sunday which only underlined the Serb’s supremacy.
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Murray gave it everything he had in the two-hour, 53-minute baseline battle that was compelling viewing throughout an engrossing and pivotal 80-minute second set.
Novak Djokovic powered to his sixth Australian Open title – matching only Roy Emerson’s record in the open era.
“To Mr Roy Emerson, who isn’t here tonight, it’s a privilege to match your record of six Australian Open titles”.
Both men faced stiff competition to reach the final at Melbourne Park again this year as Murray defeated Milos Raonic, 4-6, 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-2, in the semifinals.
The shock collapse of his father-in-law, Nigel Sears, courtside in Melbourne nine days ago meant Murray was seriously considering flying back to London. This was their 36th win on the trot and their third successive grand slam doubles title.
“When I did in the third set, that helped me out a lot”.
But Murray, before making a dash to the airport to fly home to his pregnant wife, said he felt he remained in touch with Djokovic despite their widening head-to-head statistics.
“The end of the second set, the game I lost 40-love up, was a tough one”, Murray said.
“Of course, I do prepare myself always to perform my best in a Grand Slam and the fight for these trophies, as anybody else”.
“It’s been a tough few weeks for me away from the court”, Murray said in his on-court speech, thanking his support team before turning his attention to his wife.
Djokovic’s win over Murray was his 11th in the pair’s last 12 meetings, while the Serbian also moved ahead 23-22 in his epic rivalry with Federer after defeating the Swiss in four sets in the semi-finals.
“Regardless of today’s result, it’s been hard”, he said about the two-week tournament.
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“I think the experience of playing so many matches against these guys, being on the big stage, knowing what’s at stake, knowing the importance and value of these tournaments and fighting for the trophy”. I have to thank her for allowing me to play and sort of stay here with everything that was going on. “Yeah, I just want to get home”. “Just quite looking forward to getting home now”, Murray said in a quickfire press conference before rushing for his plane. “I was enjoying this two weeks so, so much, the best two weeks of my career. When you’re a grand slam victor things change in your life and now, for the11th time, it’s truly fantastic so I’m trying to obviously cherish every moment of it, nurture it and hopefully use it as a motivation for further challenges”.
