Australian Open 2015: Djokovic wins high-profile final

Tennis fans from all over the world were treated to a first-class match at today's men's final of the Australian Open. The match between Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray on the tennis court today was first class. Especially from Djokovic one would not have expected that, because he had not really dominated against his semi-final opponent Wawrinka and showed really weak phases. Today was completely different, a really focused, concentrated and determined Djokovic hit precisely and did not give up any ball without a fight. This was expected from Murray, who is only known as a real fighter.

Fabulously long rallies
How close the match was and that both - at least at the beginning - played on absolutely equal terms was shown by the sometimes astonishingly long rallies in the first two sets, which both lasted an unusually long time at 72 and 80 minutes respectively. This made the final a worthy occasion. Both players unpacked everything they had to give and showed world-class tennis with loops, shorts, longlines and winners of the very first order. Only Murray showed an unfortunate knack for making a mistake at the wrong moment, such as missing a sure winner. Djokovic delivered a winnerquote, which was not to be expected after the semifinal. If he had sometimes shown sets with zero winners with Wawrinka, he could not land enough of them today: 19 in the first set, 18 in the second and 8 in the third and fourth sets. In comparison, the final score was 53 winners for Novak Djokovic and 41 winners for Andy Murray. In contrast, Murray delivered errors. The number of unforced errors was 40 for Djokovic and 49 for Murray.

Breakdown in the third set
This energy-sapping game was bound to lead to a collapse on one side or the other in the long run. This time it hit Murray. It already started in the first two sets with Murray missing clear chances, even if they were few, but that was already a first sign. Missing chances naturally makes the opponent strong. Although the level of play remained high, Djokovic took Murray's first game in the third set and that was the beginning of the end. Djokovic now gained the upper hand and won the set 6:3 in just 39 minutes. That the fourth set also went to Djokovic, who took the set 6-0 in just 28 minutes, was due to Murray's collapse and Djokovic's dominance, although the result doesn't really do justice to Murray's class. In the end, Novak Djokovic, who had not been convincing, especially in the semifinals, deserved to win over Andy Murray. Today, both players played great tennis, but Novak Djokovic was clearly the better player, especially towards the end. With Andy Murray, a great tennis player takes the smaller trophy, but hopefully with his head held high, because he delivered world class today. It was a worthy match for a Grand Slam final today: Thank you Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray for this great match!