Australian Open: Djokovic too good for Murray in final

Novak Djokovic outplayed Andy Murray to win the Australian Open for the second time and end the Briton's hopes of a first Grand Slam title.

The 23-year-old Serbian won 6-4 6-2 6-3 in a stiflingly hot Melbourne to regain the title he first won in 2008 and condemn Murray to a third defeat in Grand Slam finals.

Murray had been hoping to become the first British man to claim a major title since Fred Perry won the US Open in 1936, and Scotland's first ever Grand Slam singles champion, but he was overpowered by the world number three.

"He had an unbelievable tournament and deserved to win," said Murray afterwards. "Hopefully I'll come back and have more chances in the future."

A victorious Djokovic responded: "I want to congratulate Andy for a great two weeks, it was really difficult to play against you tonight. Hopefully you will have another chance to win a Grand Slam trophy and, with your talent, I'm sure you will."

Djokovic went into Sunday's final a slight favourite having beaten reigning champion Roger Federer in straight sets in the semi-finals, and with the confidence of having won the Australian title in 2008.

Murray, seeded fifth, has always claimed not to be affected by his nation's clamour for a Grand Slam champion, but his own desire to land a major title after twice losing in finals brings enough pressure and he made a nervous start.

Djokovic hammered some heavy forehands in the Briton's opening service game and earned a break point, but a loose error let Murray off the hook and the Scot edged through a tense 15-minute game.

Murray then immediately had a half-chance of his own on the Djokovic serve, only to miss a smash at 15-30, but the rhythm was set and both men knew they were in for a battle.

The decisive moment came with Murray serving to stay in the set at 4-5, 15-30 down and a gripping 38-stroke rally which the Briton looked like winning on several occasions, only for Djokovic's amazing powers of recovery to eventually force the error.

A forehand error from Murray then gave up the first set after a gruelling 59 minutes and the more assertive style of Djokovic was holding sway, a beautiful lob helping him to a love service game at the start of the second set.

With Murray making fewer than 50% of first serves, Djokovic was able to draw his man into lengthy rallies and dominate with his greater power and incredible movement.

The second break point of the match was seen off by Murray with an ace but when he went for a drop shot on the third moments later, Djokovic was onto it in a flash to sweep away a backhand winner.

As well as Djokovic was playing, it was Murray who was the major contributor to his falling a double-break down in game four as he netted a volley and then pushed a forehand long.

The Scot, who had been close to a two-set deficit in his semi-final against David Ferrer, avoided the dreaded bagel by seeing off a set point at 5-0 down before finally breaking the Djokovic serve to love as he began to go for his shots with the set seemingly gone.

But any hope that he would take some of that momentum into the third set disappeared as the relentless Djokovic broke the Murray serve for the third time to close out the set.

Murray, who had now lost all eight sets he had played in Grand Slam finals, was facing the monumental task of taking the irrepressible Djokovic to five, but he took a first step on that journey by firing a forehand winner to break at the start of the third.

It did not signal a significant shift in fortunes, though, as within minutes he was shouting angrily towards his mother Judy and team of coaches in his player's box after a desperately poor smash handed the advantage straight back.

Djokovic was closing in now and heaped the pressure on at 2-1, refusing to give up the game after Murray valiantly saved six break points and seizing the seemingly vital break with a magnificent backhand down the line past the helpless Briton.

The route to the finish line was not to be straightforward, with the apparently hopeless situation appearing to relax Murray as it had in the second set, and he fought his way back to level, saving more break points on his way to 3-3.

Djokovic was not to be denied though and bludgeoned his way to a 17th break point of the day at 4-3 with some more fearsome forehands, and Murray duly netted under the pressure to leave the Serbian serving for the title.

There was to be no late reprieve for the Briton as Djokovic came through an understandably edgy final game to secure his second Grand Slam title, and leave Murray still waiting for a first.

"I dedicate this title to my family, my brothers, my girl Jelena back home, my people that have been with me for so many years," said Djokovic.

"It has been a tough period for our people in Serbia. We are trying every single day to present our country in the best possible way, so this is for my country Serbia."

Australian Open: Andy Murray beats David Ferrer in semi

Andy Murray needed all his fighting spirit as he toiled to a four-set win over David Ferrer to reach a second successive Australian Open final.

The Briton, seeded fifth, won 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-1 7-6 (7-2) to set up a final against Novak Djokovic on Sunday.

Murray produced an error-strewn performance in the face of Spaniard Ferrer's class and relentless energy.

But he battled back from the brink of a two-set deficit and is now one win away from a first Grand Slam title.

"Ferrer's an unbelievable athlete and competitor," Murray said afterwards. "He works so hard. I was expecting an unbelievably tough match and I got it.

"He's such a tough player to play against. He was dictating at the start and I had to start going for my shots more and it paid off. There will always be some nerves in a Grand Slam semi-final and that was the case today."

Serve was dominant in a low-key start to the match, with Murray misfiring a little on his groundstrokes, but the first opportunity for either man came when he got to deuce at 3-3 with some attacking returns, and Ferrer faltered with forehand and backhand errors.

Murray had his break without having got out of first gear but immediately found himself under pressure at 15-40 in the following game as Ferrer stepped up the pace, and the seventh seed clinched it by ending a magnificent rally at the net.

The match had now come alive and a beautiful backhand down the line took Murray to 15-30 in the next game before a similar stroke at the end of a hypnotic 40-shot rally earned him another two break points, but a Ferrer ace and a snatched return into the net saw the Spaniard escape.

Murray now carried the pressure and when Ferrer earned himself a set point, the world number five blazed a forehand wide - his 16th unforced error - to lose a set he had earlier controlled.

The subdued Briton needed a lift and he got exactly that at the start of the second, breaking when Ferrer sent a forehand long, but it did not signal a change in the rhythm of the match as the exasperated Murray found himself 0-40 down moments later and netted a backhand on the third break point.

As the second set progressed, it was the Spaniard who increasingly looked in command as a bewildered Murray just could not find a way through his defences and time after time ended lengthy rallies with a mistake of his own.

Clearly rattled by the way the match was going, and in regular dialogue with the umpire, Murray was in deep trouble at 15-40 in game seven of the second set but served his way out of trouble.

The errors kept on coming though and Murray was staring at a two-set deficit as Ferrer, 5-4 up and bristling with intent, hammered an attacking return at 30-30 to force error number 32, but Murray saw off the set point with a big serve down the middle and clung on.

Finally, Ferrer showed a crack in his armour after seeing that opportunity slip by and, at break point down in the following game, he surprisingly netted a mid-court backhand after easily chasing down a Murray drop shot.

Murray now had his chance to get right back in the match but he could not capitalise, failing to find a first serve from 30-30 and leaking a backhand wide on break point, and having dropped serve immediately after breaking for the third time in the match, the signs looked very ominous going into the tie-break.

The Scot required a serious step-up in quality and he produced it, opening with a fizzing return and racing to a 6-0 lead before converting his third set point to get back on level terms after two hours of largely desperate stuff.

Ferrer remained the aggressor as the crucial third set began, dominating Murray's second serve, but two break points went begging at 1-1 when he clipped the tape with an attempted pass before Murray sent down an ace on the second.

With his normally trusty backhand malfunctioning, Murray hit through a couple of heavy forehands down the line to grab the momentum in game four and a fierce return saw him break for 3-1, before a magnificent forehand lob sealed the double break in game six.

Murray closed out the set after seeing off five break points, and the momentum shift was well and truly established when a magical backhand winner from out wide helped him break to love at the start of the fourth.

When Ferrer faced a break point at 2-0 down his challenge appeared almost over but he survived, and the value of that hold was immediately obvious as Murray's purple patch came to an end and the Spaniard broke back to love for 2-2.

A tense set ebbed and flowed without offering up any further break points and, looking to avoid the dreaded fifth set, Murray again opened the tie-break impressively by winning the first three points on the Ferrer serve.

An ace from Murray gave him a 5-1 lead at the changeover and, after three hours and 45 minutes, a neat half-volley took him through to a third Grand Slam final.

Murray revealed afterwards that he had not known the score when he saved the vital set point in the second set.

"I actually thought it was 4-3 - just before the umpire called it 5-5," he said. "It happens occasionally. I was so focused and wrapped up - it probably helped me out and I hope it doesn't happen again.

"He lost his rhythm towards the end of the third set and I was hitting the ball cleaner. My level dropped again but then I found it again."

Australian Open: Novak Djokovic stuns Roger Federer

Novak Djokovic claimed his second successive Grand Slam semi-final win over reigning champion Roger Federer to reach the final of the Australian Open.

The Serbian, who beat Federer at the US Open in September, saw off the 16-time Grand Slam champion 7-6 (7-3) 7-5 6-4 in the first semi-final in Melbourne.

Andy Murray will play David Ferrer in the second semi at 0830 GMT on Friday.

And for the first time since Australia in 2008, a Grand Slam final will not feature Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal.

That was the year that Djokovic beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to win his only major title to date, and then too he had ended Federer's hopes in the semi-finals.

"Overall it was a great performance," said Djokovic. "I am very happy with the way I played. I have been serving well under pressure even though I got tight and made some double faults in the third set when I was up a break.

"That's normal under the circumstances in the late stages of the tournament against Roger."

This latest defeat ends a run of superb form from Federer that followed his five-set loss to Djokovic in New York four months ago, and included victory at the Tour Finals in London and in Doha at the start of this year.

Third seed Djokovic made a nervous start to Thursday's match, double-faulting twice as he offered up a break point in the opening game only to gather himself and see it off with a fine forehand.

The next 45 minutes saw precious little to choose between either man as both dominated on serve in a high-quality battle that had the packed night-time crowd enthralled on Rod Laver Arena.

It was Djokovic who made the initial breakthrough as he took command in the tie-break, grabbing the first mini-break at 2-1 and consolidating it with another after a heavy forehand into the corner for 5-2.

He netted a backhand on his first set point but second seed Federer returned the compliment in the following exchange, and Djokovic headed to the chair to the sound of the large Serbian contingent celebrating noisily.

If the first set had been an exhibition of serving dominance, the second would be the complete opposite.

Djokovic let out a huge roar when he converted his first break point of the match at 1-1, successive backhand errors letting Federer down, and the Swiss appeared rattled as he muttered to umpire Enric Molina at the changeover about the Serbian's team coaching him from the stands.

Now a set and a break down, the four-time Australian Open champion needed to find a way back into the match but, in the event, Djokovic handed it to him with a sloppy game that gave the break straight back for 2-2.

And the momentum shifted, seemingly definitively, in Federer's favour when he played a superb defensive point to break once again for a 4-2 lead, before seeing off two more break points in the following game - the second with the bravest of lob volleys that left Djokovic sprawled on the court.

But the 29-year-old Swiss failed to serve out the set as Djokovic chased down a poor drop shot and guided a forehand down the line to break back, and incredibly he then regained his earlier advantage by breaking for the third time when Federer sliced a backhand into the bottom of the net.

There was to be no wavering when Djokovic served for the set and he sealed it with a blistering backhand winner down the line, prompting Federer to head disconsolately off court, presumably as much to clear his head as take advantage of a bathroom break.

It apparently had some effect as the world number two returned to launch another assault on the Djokovic serve, but the Serbian staved off three break points with some heavy serving and then set about finishing the job.

Again it was the Federer backhand that let him down when successive errors on that side gave Djokovic a potentially decisive break at 2-1, but the Swiss grabbed a lifeline to level at 4-4 when a net cord sat up for him to steer away a forehand winner.

The serving superiority of the first set was long forgotten by now, though, and Djokovic's breathless movement behind the baseline earned him three more break points at 0-40 in the next game, with Federer netting a backhand on the third.

After nearly three hours, Djokovic arrived at the moment of truth as he served for the match, overcoming a nervous double-fault at the start and two missed opportunities on match points to convert his third with a service winner.

"I thought he played a great match," Federer said afterwards. "I didn't think I played bad myself, so it was a match played at a very high intensity for a long period of time.

"Clearly it's disappointing to lose, but what to do if he plays well on the big points and potentially maybe I didn't. It was a tough match."

He added: "I was ready for another two sets easily. Pity I couldn't push him there. I wish I could have won here for the fifth time, but it wasn't possible tonight."

Djokovic might be enjoying back-to-back Slam wins over Federer but he was not about to predict an end to the Swiss player as a threat for the major titles.

"It's much too early to say that," said Djokovic. "Roger is still very much motivated to reclaim the top spot in the rankings and he's playing great.

"Tonight I think I played a better match but he's still up there and in extraordinary form. And then you have Nadal who has been a very, very dominant player.

"We are still behind them and you can't say there is a new era coming up, but there are more players who are able to win majors which is good."