Somewhat surprisingly, Novak Djokovic demonstrated (again) his dominance over his friend and rival Andy Murray with a four-set 7-6(5) 6-7(4) 6-3 6-0 win in the men's final of the 2015 Australian Open. Djokovic, 27, has now won 8 majors, tying him with other all-time greats like Andre Agassi, Ivan Lendl and Jimmy Connors and moving ahead of John McEnroe. Murray, also 27, has lost 4 finals in Melbourne and 3 overall to Djokovic. The Serbian becomes the first player n the modern era to win 5 Australian Open titles, although he is still one behind Roy Emerson's overall haul of 6.
The first two tiebreak sets took over two-and-a-half hours and featured extended rallies and brilliant shotmaking from both sides of the court. Djokovic struggled with a finger and ankle injury and when Murray went up 2-0 to begin the third set it looked like things might be going his way at last. But Djokovic found another gear and Murray unraveled, losing 12 of the next 13 games, including the last 9, to lose the 3rd and 4th sets 6-3 6-0.
The question for me now is where will both players go from here? Murray is now 2-6 in Major finals and Djokovic is 8-6. They are approximately the same age. Can Djokovic complete the career slam, can Murray win another? I believe the answer to both these questions is yes.
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