Djokovic wins Australian Open men's final
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World No. 3 Serbian Novak Djokovic on Sunday beat World No.5 Andy Murray 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 in the Australian men's single final to claim his second Grand Slam title.
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The Serbian defeated Murray in three straight sets in two hours and 38 minutes, putting an end to Murray's dream to become the first to win a Grand Slam champion for the United Kingdom in 75 years.
Throughout the match, Djokovic has played beautifully, dominated the out-of-sorts Murray in all departments and broke the British's serve regularly to secure his second Australian Open championship, which he also won in 2008.
Both held their serve for nine games when Djokovic, leading 5-4, pounced on a double fault and won a 38-stroke rally to crucially break the Murray's serve and claimed the first set by 4-6 in 58 minutes.
In second set, Djokovic had complete control his opponent, breaking two of the British's games in succession, raced to a 5-0 lead. Appearing to struggle with his eyesight, Murray broke back to 5-2, but Djokovic closed the door by ripping a forehand down the line and won the set 2-6 in 41 minutes.
The third set has been a tight one. There looked to be green shoots of recovery for Murray as he broke Djokovic's serve immediately in the third set, only for Djokovic to break straight back to level the set at 1-1.
Murray's serving inconsistency was summed up in the third set's fourth game which included a double-fault, foot fault and two aces. He then fought back and held his serve to level the third set at 3-3. However, Djokovic at the end managed to end the match by claiming the third set in 59 minutes.
"It is really difficult to play against Andy, its a tough one, hopefully we will play against each other in the future," Djokovic told reporters in Melbourne after the match on Sunday.
"We have a lot of support, a lot of color and nationalities in the last two weeks, it's truly enjoyable here."
"This is for my country, Serbia, and thank you!"
Murray has praised the champion's outstanding performance in the final match.
"Unbelievable serve and he deserved the win, so great job, and hope i see him in the future," Murray told reporters in Melbourne on Sunday. "Look forward to coming back next year, and try to win."
Djokovic banked 2.2 million U.S. dollars for his 19th career title, while Murray took home the 1.1 million U.S. dollars consolation prize.
With Sunday's victory, Djokovic now equals Gustavo Kuerten in making 12 Grand Slam appearances between winning his first and second Grand Slam titles.
Despite the triumph, Djokovic will remain on world No. 3 ranking behind Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, when the new ATP ranking are published on Monday.
Meanwhile, Murray is playing a Grand Slam final for the third time in his career, the previous two finals were the 2008 U.S. Open and the 2010 Australian Open.
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