Murray ‘meltdown’ gifts Djokovic yet another Australian Open title

Novak Djokovic’s defeat of Andy Murray in the Australian Open finals has been described as a ‘meltdown’ by two-time Melbourne finalist Pat Cash. After battling to level the match at one set all, the Andy Murray of old seemed to re-emerge as he loudly berated himself between points and games. By the time the fourth and final set came round Murray looked beaten, eyes tired and head shaking. Djokovic won 12 of the last 13 games to clinch victory, hammering the Scot 6-0 in the last set for a final result of 7-6(5) 6-7(4) 6-3 6-0. Murray has won Wimbledon and US Open titles as well as an Olympic gold medal, but this defeat was his fourth in an Australian Open final and sixth in eight Grand Slam finals.

He melted down, he absolutely collapsed. He will feel he let everyone down, but he has to look at it and say ‘I can’t do this again’.

Pat Cash, speaking to BBC Radio 5 about Andy Murray’s performance in the Australian Open final

The victory takes Djokovic’s tally of Grand Slam wins to eight, level with other greats Andre Agassi, Ken Rosewall, Ivan Lendl, Jimmy Connors and Englishman Fred Perry. The only man to have won more Australian titles than Djokovic is Roy Emerson, who chalked up six in the 1960s when the grand slams were restricted to amateur players and the Australian Open was played on grass at different cities all over the country. The Serbian thanked his fans after the win, saying the record crowds of 733,000 had spurred him on during the tournament.

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