MELBOURNE — Andy Murray set up an enthralling Australian Open final against world No 1 Novak Djokovic after a high-quality victory against Roger Federer yesterday. Report by Supersport
The 25-year-old Briton, who had never beaten Federer in a grand slam previously, despite being one of the few players to hold a superior career record against the Swiss, advanced to the final with a 6-4, 6-7, 6-3, 6-7, 6-2 win in four hours.
Murray had looked the more likely to win the match from the outset with a superior service game and aggressive shot making, but the 17-times grand slam winner proved he was still a force to be reckoned with by forcing a fifth set.
The US Open champion, however, got off to a storming start in the fifth, racing out to a 3-0 lead and after being two points from the match in the fourth set was not prepared to let the opportunity slip again.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic had thrashed David Ferrer to reach the Australian Open final on Thursday and stay on course for a hat-trick of Melbourne titles.
Djokovic had too much pace on the ground and off his strings for the Spaniard, winning 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 in one hour and 29 minutes.
“I played incredible tennis,” he said. “I felt very confident and comfortable from the start. It was definitely one of the best performances I ever had in my career.”
It was in marked contrast to last year’s semi-final, when the Serbian had needed nearly five hours to see off Andy Murray. Djokovic went on to win his third Australian title in 2012 and this year is trying to become the first man since the Open era began in 1968 to win it three times in a row.
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He can now enjoy a 48-hour rest until tomorrow’s final. Ferrer had matched his seeding of fourth by making the semi-finals, and had five wins over Djokovic to draw hope from, but he never threatened an upset.
A more telling statistic was that in 14 meetings between the two, Ferrer had never won a match on outdoor hard courts.
