A determined Andy Murray could not get past the World no. 1 Novak Djokovic as the latter dominated play to clinch his sixth Australian Open title. It was the fourth time these two were facing each other in Melbourne with Djoker emerging victorious in all four of them. With this win Novak now has 11 Grand Slam titles, equalling Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver. He also equalled Roy Emerson’s tally of 6 Australian Open titles.
Andy Murray was all geared up for this encounter overcoming David Ferrer in the quarters and Milos Raonic in the Semis. With three defeats at the hands of Djokovic over the past few editions of the tournament, he was looking to turn the tables around. But it was not to be. Murray fought very hard but Novak was too big a task to overcome as he won the match in straight sets 6-1, 7-5, 7-6(7-3). Murray had the chance to break in the first game which he had at 0-40. He could not capitalize on it and eventually lost the first set 6-1. But he fought back in the second. With 40-0 up in the 11th game, Djoker broke Murray’s serve and then went on to clinch the second set 7-5. With a break in the first game of the third set, Djokovic looked all set for an easy finish. But the Brit was not to give up so easy. He fought hard to force the third set into a tie breaker. But finally Djokovic won the match with an ace to finish things off.
Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic (Source:Ben Solomon/Tennis Australia)
With this victory Djokovic has asserted his position as an unbeatable force in Grand slam tournaments over the past year or so. Barring French Open he has won the others. He will be rearing to win a title at Roland Garros this season. Also he has extended his winning streak in Grand Slam matches to 21. Beating Rafael Nadal in Doha last year and now overcoming Roger Federer and Andy Murray in the Australian Open, he is making a mark for himself against his rivals. With 11 Grand Slam titles in the bag, he is moving forward towards Roger Federer’s tally of 17 titles. With the Australian open title being his first one, back in 2008 he has now won five more titles at Melbourne and is turning out to be a Maestro in Australia, just like Rafa at the Roland Garros.
Andy Murray though has now lost 5 finals at Melbourne becoming the second man post 1968 to lose 5 finals at any one Grand Slam. This will definitely not be a stat Murray would be happy to be known with. He will look to change that in the future. The coming days are of great importance to Andy as he and his wife are expecting their first child in February. At the same time his father-in-law was rushed to the hospital during the tournament. Let’s hope the best for the fighter in Andy.
