Roger Federer and Andy Murray make Novak Djokovic

“I’m very proud of the achievement and this particular stat, but I try not to think about what would happen if I would lose and not get to the final”.

Finally clinching an elusive Australian Open crown is Andy Murray’s number one goal for the new year but the Brit concedes that his hopes of success at Melbourne Park may rest on champion Novak Djokovic having an off-day. Obviously knowing that I can play a match makes me feel relieved a bit, but it’s a little issue that has been there for most of this week.

If Novak Djokovic manages to win the final game by defeating Nadal, it will boost Novak’s confidence to very much extent.

Nadal refused to describe his match against Marchenko as flawless but it certainly appeared like it was from the stands.

Former French Open champion Gaston Gaudio present Djokovic with the winner’s trophy.

Banging an ace to close an immaculate set of shot-making, Djokovic delivered 16 winners against just four unforced errors blitzing through the opener in 31 minutes.

Online bookmaker Sportsbet have Djokovic at odds of $1.67 to win the title once more, while the Serbian is also priced at $1.67 against the field ($2.10). But it was a sad story for the Spaniard, who was playing in the 99th career final.

Djokovic continued to apply pressure on Nadal from the baseline with a display of aggression. The title would be a great start to the season for Djokovic, showing that he is going to be similarly tough to beat this season.

It was the Serb’s sixteenth consecutive final.

Djokovic took a few rallies to warm up-the first game comprised 10 points-and Nadal grabbed the initiative against the Serb’s serve to bring up an immediate break point.

Djokovic now turns his focus on his Australian Open title defense starting next Monday.

It will be Nadal’s first hard court final in 18 hard court tournaments since he won the 2014 Qatar Open title. Nadal was once borderline dominant in this rivalry, but Djokovic has turned the tide in a major way to draw level. “So I just want to congratulate him and that’s it”, said the 29-year-old, who took home 105,940.

Federer, who has been with flu-like symptoms this week, beat eighth-seeded Dominic Thiem 6-1, 6-4.

Raonic had earlier won a battle of big servers to down local contender Bernard Tomic 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5) in the first semifinal.

“I am well prepared for it as it’s the important match”.