It's Djokovic vs. Nadal
MELBOURNE, Australia — Defending champion Novak Djokovic moved into an Australian Open final against Rafael Nadal after edging Andy Murray in a five-set, almost five-hour semifinal late Friday night.
Despite appearing tired and sore from the second set, Djokovic rallied to beat Murray 6-3, 3-6, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 7-5 in a rematch of the 2011 final at Melbourne Park to reach his third consecutive Grand Slam final.
After wasting a chance to serve out the match at 5-3 in the fifth and letting Murray back into the contest, Djokovic cashed in his first match point when the Scottish player missed a forehand after 4 hours, 50 minutes.
Djokovic dropped onto his back, fully laid out on the court. He got up and shook hands with Murray, before jogging back out onto the court like a boxer, dropping to his knees and crossing himself.
It was already after 12:30 a.m. Saturday when he got up again and pumped his arms triumphantly.
“Andy deserves the credit to come back from 2-5 down. He was fighting. I was fighting,” Djokovic said. “Not many words that can describe the feeling of the match.
“It was a physical match ... it was one of the best matches I played. Emotionally and mentally it was equally hard.”
It was a bitter setback for Murray, who lost the previous two Australian finals.
Djokovic finished last year at No. 1 after winning three of the four majors, including a straight-sets win over Murray in the Australian final. His only loss at a Grand Slam in 2011 was against Roger Federer in the French Open semifinals.
He is aiming to be only the fifth man in the Open Era started in 1968 to win three straight majors. His 70-6 win-loss record in 2011 included six wins over Nadal — all in finals.
Nadal, the 2009 Australian Open winner, beat four-time champion Federer in Thursday’s semifinal and has an extra day to prepare for Sunday night’s final.
Federer doesn’t want any sympathy after being bundled out of the Australian Open by his rival Rafael Nadal.
“I haven’t lost in five months or something, you know,” he said following his 6-7 (5), 6-2, 7-6 (5), 6-4 semifinal loss on Thursday. “It’s not that bad. Don’t feel too sorry for me.”
Federer hadn’t lost a match since his epic semifinal against Novak Djokovic at the U.S. Open in September when he held two match points before going down in five sets. He picked himself up and won titles in Basel, Paris and then the year-ending ATP World Tour Finals.
Federer is hoping for a similar recovery this time. His next assignment is likely a Davis Cup tie against the United States in Fribourg, Switzerland, beginning Feb. 10.
“(What is) important is the reaction from now,” he said. “Where do I go from here? You know, start planning other trips. Start planning the preparations, and, again, have a good reaction like I showed after the U.S. Open.”
Still, the loss to Nadal means that Federer, once the game’s dominant force, hasn’t won a Grand Slam title since the 2010 Australian Open and has only reached one major final in that time.
The 30-year-old Federer, coming off his 13th straight Australian Open, stonily rejected any suggestion that he might be approaching the end of his glittering career.
He said he would keeping coming back to Melbourne, “I hope often.”
Federer remains a fan favorite. The Swiss star sits second on a Social Leaderboard designed by the Australian Open’s website.
