27th January, 2012
The world number one Novak Djokovic came from two set down to beat Britain’s fourth seed Andy Murray 6-3, 3-6, 6-7, 6-1, 7-5 in the Australian open semi final on Friday.
Djokovic will now play Rafael Nadal, who defeated his long time rival and 16-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer on Thursday, in the final on Sunday.
Djokovic, who defeated Murray in last year’s final, also dented world number four’s hope to become the first British man to win a Grand Slam title since 1936.
“I’m happy to be in the final. The match against Nadal will be a great challenge. There is no doubt that it’s going to be another physical fight,” Djokovic said.
Defending champion Djokovic set the early pace by winning the first set 6-3 easily in 47 minutes. But the Scot came back strongly to win the next set 6-3 and levelled the semifinal match at one set each.
Murray broke Djokovic in the third set that went into the tie-breaker but the former held the nerve to win the third set 7-6 (7/4).
Djokovic produced flawless tennis as he won the fourth set 6-1 in just 25 minutes
The pair have played each other nine times on hard courts, including the semifinal, with a 5-4 record. Djokovic holds an overall 7-4 record against the world number four.