Novak Djokovic wins 2016 Australian Open men’s title

Novak Djokovic is the 2016 Australian Open champion after a dominant finals performance over world No. 2 Andy Murray on Sunday, 6-1, 7-5, 7-6 (3). Djokovic, the top-ranked player in the world, was in the driver’s seat from the very beginning and never looked like he was going to lose the match.

Djokovic joins Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg with an 11th Grand Slam singles title, and he’s also tied the record for most crowns at the Australian Open set by Roy Emerson with six.

Murray tightened up his play in the second and third sets, but he was clearly dominated in the first set, getting broken twice as Djokovic took a commanding 5-0 lead in the frame. Murray returned well after that set, but he had nothing to offer Djokovic’s serve, and ultimately made 65 unforced errors in the match.

The third set went to a tiebreak, but the Serb managed to end it sooner rather than later, breaking Murray’s opening service game of the set.

The victory is the 11th in the past 12 meetings between the two, and Murray has now lost the Australian Open final five times, being the first player to lose the same major that many times. Djokovic has beaten Murray in the finals three times in the past four years. Murray has often received criticism for being unable to hang with the rest of the “Big Four,” though he outlasted both Roger Federer, who fell in the semifinals to Djokovic, and Rafael Nadal, who lost in the opening round.

With the win, the Australian Open remains Djokovic’s best major. He has six titles there, three titles at Wimbledon and two titles at the US Open. He still has not won at the French Open.