Old friends met at the men’s final of the Australian Open 2011, and Novak Djokovic played like he could read Andy Murray’s mind. The world No. 3 out of Serbia demolished the 5th-ranked Scot, his childhood doubles partner, 6-4 6-2 6-3, on a sweltering night in Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena to capture his second Grand Slam tournament title and his second Aussie Open trophy.
Murray said heading into this match that there would be no secrets between the two, given their mutual familiarity, but whatever he knew about Djokovic, he never managed to capitalize on it. Wound tight from the very beginning, he looked gassed as early as the third set, and after having his serve broken to fall behind 5-3, the pilot light effectively went out. Like Li Na in the women’s final the night before, Murray could be heard turning on his own:
Australian Open 2011 Men’s Final: Novak Djokovic Devastates Andy Murray In Straight Sets To Claim Second Major Title
Murray, rattled by noise and berating himself angrily, began to unravel in the second set, screaming at his own coaching team to “be quiet”.
He struggled with net play throughout the match, but as Brad Gilbert noted afterwards, his chief downfall seemed to be nerves. After 45 unforced errors in the first three sets, Murray found two more in him, driving both the 30-30 and the championship points into the net.
This isn’t to take anything away from Djokovic’s phenomenal performance in Melbourne this fortnight. He’s dropped one set this entire tournament, a 10-8 tiebreaker in Round 2 to Ivan Dodig, and hasn’t lost one since. He beat Federer in straight sets, something you may have heard doesn’t happen often. Murray said in his post-match presser that Djokovic played “unbelievably well,” and that’s absolutely accurate. There’s really nothing to add to that assessment: This was a stone-cold knockout by an elite player who seems to be peaking, uncannily, just as the world Nos. 1 and 2 are struggling to maintain their Colossus stances astride the game.
And it’s not just Djokovic’s game that’s matured. After embracing Murray at the net, acknowledging the officials, and winging his racket, shirt, and shoes into the roaring crowd, the freshly-hatched champion took the mic for a sober speech, touching on what this win means for Serbia, paying sweet tribute to Murray, and asking for remembrance of the Australian flood victims.
Djokovic will take home $2.2 million, the biggest prize in Aussie Open history. Murray nets $1.1 million just for getting this far. Whether that will assuage his pain after having dropped nine straight sets in three losses at three Grand Slam finals is uncertain, but it won’t temper the headlines back home: Fred Perry remains the last British player to win a major, in 1936.
Djokovic, for his part, hadn’t even reached the finals of any major before last year’s U.S. Open since winning the Aussie Open in ‘08. With this second title, he becomes the only men’s player to capture more than one win at a major since the Federer-Nadal reign of terror established its stranglehold in the 2005 season. Is that ruling class of two ready to accept the possibility of a triumvirate at the top? If Djokovic keeps this up, Nos. 1 and 2 may not have any choice in the matter.
