Murray routed in Melbourne

January 31, 2011 - 0:0

Andy Murray is still searching for his maiden Grand Slam title after he was beaten 6-4 6-2 6-3 by Novak Djokovic in the final of the Australian Open.

The Scot has now lost three Grand Slam finals without winning a set, after he was comprehensively outplayed by the Serbian world number three.
Djokovic won in two hours and 39 minutes in the most one-sided Australian Open men's final since 2003.
It was a second Australian Open triumph for Djokovic, who also won the Melbourne title in 2008.
Firing on all cylinders Djokovic had seen off Tomas Berdych and Roger Federer without dropping a set in his last two rounds and was firing on all cylinders from the outset of his fourth major final.
The Serbian star held serve to love and earned a break point on Murray's first service game. But the fifth seed battled through the second game to hold and a high-quality opening set went with serve and looked destined for a tie-break.
That was until the decisive 10th game, when Djokovic prevailed in a 38-shot rally to open up two set points on Murray's serve. He took the first one when Murray hit a backhand long.
Things began to look desperate for Murray as Djokovic claimed a double break in the second set to race to a 5-0 lead. Murray managed to save face by clawing back two games on the spin, but Djokovic took the all-important eighth game to open up a two-set advantage.
Inevitable Murray's hopes of the elusive slam were fading, but the British number one raised hopes of an improbable comeback by snatching an early lead off Djokovic's delivery.
But the momentum-change was brief as the Serb wrestled back a break, before a stunning backhand down the line allowed the soon-to-be world number two to help himself to another break for a 3-1 lead.
Murray was staring down the barrel and perhaps lesser players would have folded at this point. But the Dunblane right-hander used all his resolve to get the scores back on level terms at 3-3.
However, Djokovic soon edged ahead and when he secured a break in the eighth game, the inevitable dawned upon the Rod Laver crowd.
And the 23-year-old Serb needed just one Championship point to clinch his second Norman Brookes Challenge Cup, as Murray dumped a forehand into the net.
(Source: Skysport)