Novak does It again

Tennis

Novak Djokovic has won his second Australian Open title with a dominant straight sets victory over Andy Murray, delivering the Scot his third Grand Slam final defeat from as many matches.

Djokovic, the world number three, was on the front foot the entire match, and was virtually gifted the victory through a combination of amazing defensive play and horrendous errors from a clearly rattled opponent.

The final scoreline of 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 might even be friendly looking to the fifth seed, who clearly did not turn up even with his B-game.

Murray, with runner-up plate in hand, was short on words, but his disappointment was all too clear. "He deserves the win... he did an unbelievable job"

"I Didn't quite do it this time. Hopefully I'll have more chances in the future... I look forward to coming back next year and trying to win again."

On the winners side of the court, Djokovic was possibly being over friendly with his choice of words to an opponent that hardly made a scratch in his game. "We've known each other for such a long time... It was so difficult to play you tonight."

Hardly.

Beyond the formalities of thanking the sponsors and officials, the Serb made clear what he wanted the title to mean for those around him.

"I dedicate this title to my family" he said, before acknowledging his support back home. "It's been a tough period for our people... This is for my country."

Compared to his surprise victory of world number two Roger Federer, Djokovic was a composed man throughout. There was hardly any verbal expressions of anger and joy. There was no chest thumping. Djokovic had his eyes on the prize.

Djokovic looked to have the jump of the Scotsman early, taking the first six points to move within two points of an early break, but Murray appeared to have found his shots, hanging on after a fourteen minute service game.

From the outset, Murray was struggling to find consistency with his game, and especially his serve. It became too much for him, when a strong Djokovic game broke at the crucial 4-all point in the first set.

The Serb would win the next seven games. Easily.

At 0-5 down in the second set, Murray showed some resistance for the first time in the match, breaking Djokovic after saving set point, before throwing away the set once more soon after.

Murray was never at any stage in the match able to make the transistion from being a 'stubborn' player to a 'competitive' one.

It will be no final for the ages. More so, It met the bare minimum requirements to be considered a match - two players walked out with a racquet, but one used it efficiently.

Murray continued to struggle through his service games, and soon Djokovic broke at 4-3 ahead. At 5-3, after a Djokovic consolidation, the Scot soon found himself with a broken racquet and broken dreams, for the second straight year.

It was over all too quickly. Djokovic's victory has sent out a message to the two men above him in the rankings that he intends to leap both of the them by the end of the year. With such defensive skill and counter-attacking he displayed tonight, there is no reason why he couldn't do it.