Murray and Soares claim Australian Open crown

He is one of a very select group, then. A very physically demanding match [with] lots of rallies, exchanges.

History beckons for Andy Murray on Sunday, when he will either win his first Australian Open title or become its unluckiest player.

This will be the fourth Australian Open final that the pair have contested, and it’s Djokovic who has won all of the previous three.

The stoic Scot also insists his sapping five-set semi-final victory over Milos Raonic will be no excuse for being unable to reverse a run of 10 defeats in his past 11 encounters with the world No.1.

“Probably the most heartbroken I’ve felt on court”.

“I need to keep to my game plan very well, not have any lapses in concentration and just play the best I can”, he said. “That’s my challenge on Sunday”. A rematch of 2015’s title match, Murray and defending champ Djokovic are scheduled to play beginning at 3 a.m. ET.

Mauresmo said Murray had endured a lot of pain and anguish during the week, after his father-in-law, Nigel Sears, had collapsed in the stands and was detained in hospital in Melbourne for tests, before being allowed to fly home to the United Kingdom last Monday.

But Murray was not the one who ended up with a code violation Friday for breaking his racket with two hammer blows of frustration on the blue hard court.

“That’s what we’re going to talk about tomorrow and before the match”, Mauresmo said. I came up with some good second serves.

Last year, Djokovic fell short of completing a Grand Slam calendar after suffering an upset over Swiss Stan Wawrinka in the final round of the French Open.

“I think someone like Novak is well on his way trying to accomplish that [Calendar Grand Slam]”, Laver said, reports the ABC.

“Novak does everything so well”, Mauresmo said.

“Yeah, a lot about tactics and a lot about how of course you handle your emotions of the greatness of that occasion of playing for the grand slam title”. “He knows where he failed in last year’s final against Djokovic”, he says. “We have to be inspired from that as well”. Raonic held the entire way, fighting off three break points in the process.

“It was tough because he (Raonic) didn’t miss one first serve in the (third set) tiebreaker and he has one of the best serves in tennis”, Murray said. Murray clung on to his serve like a limpet after that.

Mauresmo admitted that Murray had been “in a bit of trouble” until Raonic’s injury.

“I sort of lashed out at the start of the fifth set”. “I was hitting the ball cleaner from the back of the court”. I didn’t know that.

Soares, who had earlier struggled for his usual rhythm, suddenly grew in confidence while Murray led from the front, serving out the second set to force a decider. He needed a medical timeout, and later in the fourth set had a massage from the trainer. Djokovic is 4-0 lifetime against Murray this event and the top-ranked Serb has won the title five times in as many final appearances. I can not give you an answer on that.

“I should be happy about that”.

Nestor won the first of his eight titles at the Australian Open in 2002 and first reached his first major final here in 1995, both times with partner Mark Knowles.