Novak Djokovic Smashes Andy Murray in Straight Sets
It took only 2 hours 39 minutes for Novak Djokovic to brush aside Andy Murray in the Australian Open Mens Final.
Djokovic, who is the same age as Murray at 23, comprehensively outplayed his friend to win his second Australian Open title in straight sets 6-4, 6-2, 6-3.
Murray said afterwards,
“He had an unbelievable tournament and deserved to win, hopefully I’ll come back and have more chances in the future.”
In truth Murray will have to learn how to step up if he is ever going to break his duck and win one of the major titles, the final this year was very similar to the final last year when he was comprehensively outplayed by Roger Federer. He has now been in 3 Major finals and failed to win a set.
That is to take nothing away from Novak Djokovic though, who rarely put a foot wrong during the match. He served well and played some barely believable defensive play at times, at one point actually doing the splits during a rally.
Murray for his part was put under constant pressure, committing a large number of unforced errors that meant he rarely had the chance to break Djokovic’s serve.
Djokovic went into the game most people’s favourite after beating Roger Federer in straight sets in the previous round, he also had the experience of winning the tournament previously and the experience showed.
The turning point in the first set came when an amazing 38 stoke rally in which Djokovic looked to be down and out on a few occasions, but somehow he always got the ball back over the net; the point eventually ended with a tired looking shot from Murray slammed into the net.
The second set was all Djokovic as Murray’s game crumbled and at one point he faced set point at 5-0 down. He managed to avoid the dreaded bagel but by then it was too late and Djokovic took the set.
Murray dug deep in the third set to make a breakthrough but again made errors when the rallies went into double figures while Djokovic was relatively calm and collected.
Djokovic is now the world number 3 but on this form it looks like he is serious competition for the number 2 or 1 spot. Watch out Nadal and Federer.
Murray on the other hand, has the all round game to challenge the top 2 as well, but he needs to find a way to increase his focus during a match.
He needs to get into the headspace where he has the cast iron belief that winning the match, whether it is a final or not, is the only outcome possible in his mind.
Easier said than done when the top 2 in the world are quite possibly the finest tennis players the world has ever seen, and when you also have the added weight of history on your shoulders. A British mens tennis player hasn’t won a Major Open tournament since Fred Perry in the 1930′s.
Photo: mbevis
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