For the third straight time Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal will meet in a grand slam final following the world number one’s incredible 2012 Australian Open Semi-Final victory over fourth seed Andy Murray on Friday night.
World number one Novak Djokovic advanced to the 2012 Australian Open Men’s Singles Final following a breath-taking five set 6-3 3-6 6-7 6-1 7-5 victory over Brit fourth seed Andy Murray out on Rod Laver Arena.
The epic contest took nearly five hours to complete (four hours and 50 minutes) and saw Djokovic set up a final date with world number two Rafael Nadal who beat 16-time major winner Roger Federer in the first semi-final on Thursday night.
It will be the third time Djokovic has reached the final at the year’s first grand slam and he will take on his nearest rival in Rafael Nadal who he beat in all six of their clashes last year including the Wimbledon and US Open Finals.
Incredibly it will be the first time in the open era that the same two men will have meet in three consecutive grand slam finals (2011 Wimbledon; 2011 US Open; 2012 Australian Open) when the top two male singles players face off at Rod Laver Arena on Sunday night.
However Djokovic, like Nadal three years ago will need to use that time to fully recover after a gruelling battle against Murray which last into the small hours of Saturday morning – AEST.
In a repeat of last year’s final Djokovic got the ascendency early in the first set and managed to hold on and then continued his momentum into the second as he immediately broke Murray and then held serve to hold a 2-0 lead.
But the Scotsman wouldn’t quit and saved a break point in the third game before reeling off six of the next seven games to take out the second set and level the match.
In one of the best sets of tennis seen at the tournament both men had opportunities in the all important third set but on various occasions both managed to come up with vital shots in crucial situations and the set ended up heading to a tiebreak.
There Murray was just too good for his close friend as the tournament fourth seed, aiming to become the first British man to win a grand slam singles title in 76-years took a decisive two sets to one lead.
However that luxury was soon wiped away as Djokovic, who appeared injured during the second set regained his composure and raced through the fourth set (in only 25 minutes) to send it to a fifth and deciding set.
The Serbian who has a good record against the Scotsman broke Murray in the sixth game of the fifth set and then held serve to lead 5-2 before the fourth seed dug deep and roared back into the match as he first held serve, then broke Djokovic to love and held again to level the scores at 5-5.
Murray carried over that momentum into the 11th game of the set and at one stage had two break points on the Djokovic’s serve but the world number one showed why he is currently the best male singles player in the world by holding serve.
That game seemed to do wonders for Djokovic who produced some more great tennis to break Murray in the very next game and eventually take out one of the greatest semi-finals seen at the Australian Open.
2012 Australian Open Men’s Singles Final
Novak Djokovic (1) v Rafael Nadal (2)
Tagged with: Andy Murray, Ascendency, Australian Open, Break Point, Epic Contest, Face Off, Final Victory, Grand Slam Finals, Male Singles, Nada, Novak Djokovic, Open Men, Rafael Nadal, Rod Laver, Rod Laver Arena, Roger Federer, Seven Games, Singles Players, Straight Time, Third Game