Australian Open: Beaten Andy Murray in a rush for the exit door

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Novak Djokovic crushed Andy Murray 6-1 7-5 7-6(3) on Sunday to match Roy Emerson’s record of six Australian Open titles and leave the Briton heartbroken again at Melbourne Park.

Novak Djokovic secured his sixth Australian Open title with a straight sets victory over world #2 Andy Murray.

Murray continued to fight in the third set and took it to a tie-break but started with two double faults to give Djokovic the advantage.

While Djokovic was further enhancing his reputation, Murray has the unwanted statistic of becoming only the second man in the post-1968 Open era to lose five Grand Slam finals at any one major.

After thrashing Rafael Nadal in Doha and trouncing Roger Federer here in the semi-finals, Djokovic’s straight-sets win over Murray would appear to confirm that the big four has become a big one.

At last it was Djokovic who was berating himself rather than the Scot, but with a tie-break looming at 5-5 the five-time champion produced a burst of brilliance that took the match away from Murray.

Djokovic said he had been spurred on by the opportunity to match Emerson’s mark and draw level with Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg on 11 grand slams. Djokovic’s third consecutive Slam title in a row now puts him in line for a “Serb Slam”, a fourth in a row at the upcoming French Open. Despite leading the set 5-4 at a point when Djokovic hit a backhand into the net, Murray failed to capitalize and smashed his racket into the court in frustration.

“I never experienced this much crowd and this much love”.

But despite that display of sportsmanship, it seems unlikely that Murray or anyone else will have many moments in the sun. “I know that feeling, I understand him, I feel for him”, he said. Six Australian Opens is an incredible feat and also for what he’s done the past year or so. “I’ll be on the next flight home”.

Djokovic is the best player on the planet and his recent record against the top-10 proves it – a remarkable 50-6 in his last 56 encounters. “You’ve been a legend for all your support”.

“To my wife Kim who is going to be watching back home”, said Murray.

The world No. 2 vowed all tournament he’d immediately leave Melbourne regardless of his standing if she went into labour and was headed to the airport within hours of the match.

On his plans to catch a flight, Murray said: “I think the earliest one was at like 1am but I’ve been held on flights for it feels like five days”.

Djokovic is undefeated in 2016, capturing the Doha title and now the Australian Open to start the season.