Djokovic prevails in five-setter

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP):

Novak Djokovic overcame his breathing problems and a "physical crisis" to beat Andy Murray in an almost five-hour Australian Open semi-final yesterday and move into his third-straight Grand Slam final.

Standing between Djokovic and a record shared by some of the greatest players of all time will be No. 2-ranked Rafael Nadal, a man he beat in six tournament finals in 2011.

Despite appearing tired and sore from the second set, defending champion Djokovic rallied to beat fourth-seeded Murray 6-3, 3-6, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 7-5 in a rematch of the 2011 final at Melbourne Park.

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 four hours, 50 minutes.

"You have to find strength in those moments and energy, and that keeps you going," Djokovic said. "I think we both went through a physical crisis. You know, him at the fourth set, me all the way through the second and midway through the third. It was a very even match throughout, from the first to the last point."

Djokovic dropped on to his back, fully laid out on the court. He got up and shook hands with Murray, before jogging back out on to 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.

"Evidently it was a physical match ... it was one of the best matches I played. Emotionally and mentally it was equally hard."

Bitter setback

It was a bitter setback for Murray, who lost the previous two Australian finals and is still trying to end a drought for British men at majors dating back to 1936. He is confident he has already improved in the few weeks since hiring eight-time major winner Ivan Lendl as coach.

"Yeah, it was tough at the end because, you know, obviously you come back, then you get close to breaking," he said. "To lose, yeah, it's tough.

"But a different player, a different attitude to this time last year. I'm proud of the way I fought."

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 semi-finals.

It was a phenomenal season after previously only winning one major - the 2008 Australian Open - and not returning to a final for 11 Grand Slams.

"To be honest, I think I matured as a player. I started to believe on the court I could win majors," he said. "Rafa and Roger are the most dominant players for the last seven, eight years. It was very hard to take away the titles from them. They will not give you the titles. You have to earn it."

He is now aiming to be only the fifth man in the Open Era started in 1968 to win three straight majors - only Rod Laver, Pete Sampras, Federer and Nadal have achieved it before him, with only Laver going on to complete the Grand Slam by winning all four majors in a season.

Both Djokovic and Murray had form dips - but Djokovic's were more obvious. He led by a set and a break before Murray started coming back at him. Then Djokovic started walking gingerly and appeared to be struggling for breath - just as he had been in his straights sets quarter-final win over No. 5-ranked David Ferrer.

Despite being friends and childhood rivals, this was only the second meeting between Djokovic and Murray at a Grand Slam. Djokovic beat Murray in the 2011 Australian final and had a 6-4 lead in their overall head-to-heads at tour level.