Novak Djokovic (photo ©Spekoek) reached the final defeating Paul-Henri Mathieu, Ryan Harrison, Radek Stepanek, Stanislas Wawrinka, Tomas Berdych and David Ferrer. So far he lost a total of three sets: two to Wawrinka and one to Berdych. He’s the defending champion at the Australian Open and has already won this tournament three times.
Andy Murray reached the final defeating Robin Haase, Joao Sousa, Ricardas Berankis, Gilles Simon, Jeremy Chardy and Roger Federer. So far he lost a total of two sets, both to Federer. It’s his third Australian Open final after losing the 2010 and 2011 ones.
In the first four game both players win their service games easily and the rallies are short, then the situation becomes more balanced and the rallies become longer. In the sixth game Novak Djokovic has four break points but Andy Murray manages to win his service game. In the eighth game, the Serb has another break point but once again the Scot wins his service game. The set is decided at the tie-break, where Murray takes advantage of the double fault made by Djokovic in the first point and dominates winning it 7-2.
In the second set Andy Murray has three break points in the second game but Novak Djokovic manages to win his service game. The rallies become rather short again and the Serb, who seemed tired for some games and in the first set tie-break, can fight back the Scot again. They reach the tie-break another time but this time it’s Murray who makes a double fault and Djokovic, though not dominating, wins it 7-3.
In the third set Novak Djokovic plays really well while Andy Murray has a small performance drop. The situation is balanced until the eighth game, when the Serbi breaks the Scot for the first time and in the next game Djokovic wins the set 6-3.
In the fourth set Andy Murray try to fight back and in the second game has a break point but Novak Djokovic wins his service game and breaks the Scot twice in a row in the third and fifth game. Murray tries again but there’s nothing to do and Djokovic wins the set 6-2 and the match conquering his third consecutive title at the Australian Open.
Andy Murray has lost a great opportunity in the second set, when he could take a decisive lead to go two sets to zero. It seemed that with his great victories last year he had reached the level of his opponents for the top spot in the world rankings but in this edition of the Australian Open he lost important chances in both the semi-final and in the final. He certainly has the chance to fight for more Grand Slam titles but there are still doubts about him.
Novak Djokovic won a final that at one point seemed really slip out of his hands. However, in the most difficult moment he played better and slowly put his hands on the match showing why he’s the number one in the ATP ranking. Now he clearly aims to win his first title at Roland Garros but we’ll have to wait until the return of Rafael Nadal to see if he can finally do it. In the meantime, he can enjoy another Grand Slam title.
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