World number one Novak Djokovic.(REUTERS)
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World number one Novak Djokovic fought off what appeared to be breathing problems and fatigue to advance to the final of the Australian Open following an epic five-set semi-final victory over Britain's Andy Murray.
The Australian Open champion, who said he had breathing problems in his quarter-final against David Ferrer, looked tired throughout the match but still managed to win 6-3 3-6 6-7 6-1 7-5 in four hours, 50 minutes. The semi-final flirted with the record for the longest match at the Australian Open. Rafa Nadal beat Fernando Verdasco 6-7 6-4 7-6 6-7 6-4 in five hours, 14 minutes in 2009.
Murray had looked the more dominant throughout the first three sets as the Serb's fatigue became more apparent as he put little pace on the ball and was seemingly just willing to get it back into play and hope Murray made a mistake.
The match, however, turned in the fourth set when Djokovic raced through it in 25 minutes after he jumped out to a 4-0 lead when he conceded just four points. He had raced to a 5-2 lead in the final set, but Murray fought back to level it at 5-5 and held three break points in the 11th game, before Djokovic fought back and then broke to seal his final place against Nadal.
What can be a bigger challenge than playing Rafa Nadal, one of the greatest players
"It's difficult to describe. I was trying to focus on every point,"
Djokovic, who meets Rafa Nadal in Sunday's final, said in a courtside
interview.
"It was a physical match. It was almost five hours. It was
one of the best matches I played. Emotionally and mentally it was hard.
"We were always trying to hold our serves. It felt like we were breaking
each other easier than serving it out.
"Andy deserved the credit to come back into the match ... Thank you guys for staying this late and hopefully be entertained."
Djokovic used last year's Australian
Open title to catapult himself to two further grand slam titles, the top
of the rankings and a 70-6 record, which included a 41-match winning
streak to begin the 2011.
The only time the two close friends had played
each other in a grand slam was last year's final at Melbourne Park,
where Djokovic won 6-4 6-2 6-3, though their career record was close
with the Serb holding a 6-4 advantage. Both entered the semi-final today
barely having been tested in their early matches in the Australian
heat, though Djokovic was pushed to four sets by Lleyton Hewitt in the
fourth round.
"What can be a bigger challenge than playing Rafa Nadal, one of the greatest players," Djokovic added. "I'm going to try to recover and obviously it is going to be physical as well, so I'm going to do some push-ups tonight."
