{"id":41108,"date":"2013-01-27T13:32:03","date_gmt":"2013-01-27T12:32:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/novakdjokovic.com\/?p=41108"},"modified":"2013-01-27T21:02:03","modified_gmt":"2013-01-27T20:02:03","slug":"nole-beats-murray-for-australian-open-three-peat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novakdjokovic.com\/en\/news\/tennis\/nole-beats-murray-for-australian-open-three-peat\/","title":{"rendered":"Nole seals historic Australian Open three-peat!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Nole rewrites history books as he becomes the first man in the Open Era to win three successive Australian Open<\/a> titles!<\/strong><\/p>\n

World no.1 Novak Djokovic came back from a set down in the final to retain his title at Melbourne Park on Sunday evening with a 6-7 (2), 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-2 victory over no.3 seed Briton Andy Murray in three hours and 40 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 25-year-old Serbian star added the win to his triumphs in 2008, 2011 and 2012 to tie the Open Era record for most titles in Melbourne with Agassi and Federer (4).<\/p>\n

Novak captured\u00a0his 35th career trophy and\u00a0sixth Grand Slam championship (tied with Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg), having also triumphed at 2011 Wimbledon and US Open.<\/p>\n

Tonight\u2019s match-up was the 18th between the pair and their third major final, with Djokovic now enjoying an 11-7 career win-loss record against his rival.<\/p>\n

“What a joy,”<\/strong>\u00a0Novak said in an on-court interview.\u00a0“It’s an incredible feeling winning this trophy once more. It’s definitely my favourite Grand Slam and my most successful. I love this court. I\u2019d like to congratulate Andy and his team for a great two weeks. We’ve played so many important matches in the past few years and I hope there are many more to come.\u201d
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It was Agassi, also a four-time winner in Melbourne, who presented Novak with the trophy.<\/p>\n

“He’s a legend of the sport. He had so much success, he won Olympic gold medal, Grand Slams. It was a pleasure and honor for me to receive the trophy from him.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

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After both players split the first two sets in tie-breaks, with Murray capturing the opening set and Djokovic winning the second, Nole began to take control of the match.<\/p>\n

Neither player was challenged on serve in the third set until the eighth game, when Novak won a 36-stroke rally that highlighted his growing confidence. Nole started firing forehand winners and Murray found himself at 0\/40. He saved two break points, but the top seed capitalised on his third opportunity and served out the set to love\u00a0for two sets to one lead.<\/p>\n

After fending off a break point in the second game of the fourth set, Djokovic broke Murray in the third game before securing the double break two games later, and sealed a record-breaking third straight title in Melbourne.<\/p>\n

“When you play one of your biggest rivals who is in top form in the finals of a Grand Slam, there is a lot to play for,”<\/strong>\u00a0Novak said at the press conference.\u00a0“I think it went two hours, 20 minutes, the first two sets, that says enough about the intensity of the match.\u00a0I expected that and I knew that it’s going to be physically very demanding, a lot of long rallies.\u00a0<\/strong>There were a few turning points. Maybe one of them was the second game in the second set when I was 0\/40 against the breeze. He missed a few shots. I managed to have that crucial hold. After that I felt just mentally a little bit lighter and more confident on the court than I had done in the first hour or so.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

Match statistics<\/span>: aces (8-7), double faults (3-5), winners (47-29), unforced errors (61-46), total points won (139-126).<\/p>\n

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