Dad-To-Be Murray On ‘Next Plane Home’ After Aussie Loss

Serbian Tennis ace and world no. 1 Novak Djokovic has claimed his sixth Australian Open Grand Slam title after defeating British star Andy Murray in a high-voltage clash here on Sunday.

“I don’t take anything for granted, even though I won the last four out of five Grand Slams, played five finals, it’s phenomenal”, said Djokovic, reflecting on a period of time in which he was married, became a father and lost only one match in five major championships – the final of the French Open.

The win secured her first major title and bumper her world ranking from sixth to second.

Only Australian Laver, who was on the court named after him watching the final, has managed to win all four grand slams in one year and Djokovic would have to break his Roland Garros duck to match the feat and make more history.

Murray meanwhile made unwanted history after going down to Djokovic yet again, becoming the first man in the Open Era to lose five finals at the Australian Open.

Ivan Lendl, Murray’s former coach, lost five finals at the US Open in 1982-1984 and 1988-1989, before winning at Flushing Meadows in 1985-1987.

“I don’t know how far off I was tonight”. After the Serb won the tiebreaker of the final set, Djokovic and Murray received a huge standing ovation from the Melbourne crowd, which is only fitting for both players’ historical rivalry at the Australian Open.

“The bar has never been as high in men’s tennis”, Castle told the BBC following Djokovic’s straight-sets victory over Murray.

Djokovic reprised the two sets of flawless tennis he played in his semi-final against Roger Federer to race to a 5-0 lead in just 19 minutes.

“I think the experience of playing so many matches against these guys, being on the big stage, knowing what’s at stake, knowing the importance and value of these tournaments and fighting for the trophy”.

His head-to-head record with the Serb moves to 22-9 in Djokovic’s favour, including 11 of their last 12 matches and their last four Grand Slam meetings, going back to Murray’s Wimbledon win in 2013.

He left for the airport immediately following after the final.

Djokovic kept his momentum in the third set. Sears was later cleared to fly home and Murray played on.

Earlier Murray had tears in his eyes and a faltering voice as he paid tribute to his wife after he was well beaten 6-1, 7-5, 7-6 (7/3) – his fifth defeat in the Melbourne final.

A chronic knee injury has limited his game in recent times, and at 29, serious questions remain about whether he can regain the form that saw him win three consecutive grand slam events in 2010. I ve been held on nearly every single flight, so the first one out of here, I m leaving. You’ve been a legend the last two weeks.

But with ongoing worries about his pregnant wife Kim back home – and drama over the collapse of his father-in-law – the Scot looked to have already used up all of his emotional energy. “It’s an individual sport so a lot can happen and everything depends on you so I hope that I’m able to still respect and live this kind of lifestyle that helped me to reach this point of my career and my life and I have a great support of my family and my team of people and if it stays that way I don’t think anything is unreachable”.