Defending champion Novak Djokovic moved into an Australian Open final against Rafael Nadal after struggling past Andy Murray in a five-set, almost five-hour semifinal late Friday night. Despite appearing tired and sore from the second set on, Djokovic rallied to beat Murray 6-3, 3-6, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 7-5 in a rematch of the 2011 final at Melbourne Park to reach his third consecutive Grand Slam final. After wasting a chance to serve out the match at 5-3 in the fifth and letting Murray back into the contest, Djokovic cashed in his first match point when the Scottish player missed a forehand after four hours, 50 minutes. Djokovic dropped onto his back, fully laid out on the court. He got up and shook hands with Murray, before jogging back out onto the court like a boxer, dropping to his knees and crossing himself. It was already after 12:30 A.M. Saturday when he got up again and pumped his arms triumphantly. “Andy deserves the credit to come back from 2-5 down. He was fighting. I was fighting,” Djokovic said. “Not many words that can describe the feeling of the match. “Evidently it was a physical match ... it was one of the best matches I played. Emotionally and mentally it was equally hard.” It was a bitter setback for Murray, who lost the previous two Australian finals. Djokovic finished last year at No. 1 after winning three of the four majors, including a straight-sets win over Murray in the Australian final. His only loss at a Grand Slam in 2011 was against Roger Federer in the French Open semifinals. It was phenomenal season after previously only winning one major — the 2008 Australian Open — and not returning to a final for 11 Grand Slams. He is now aiming to be only the fifth man in the Open Era started in 1968 to win three straight majors — only Rod Laver, Pete Sampras, Federer and Nadal have achieved it before him, with only Laver going on to complete the Grand Slam by winning all four majors in a season. The Maria Sharapova vs. Victoria Azarenka women's final Saturday night is being previewed in the local media as a battle of the two loudest grunters on the tour. Russians Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva won the women's doubles final on Friday with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 victory over the Italian duo of Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci. Bethanie Mattek-Sands and her Romanian partner Horia Tecau advanced to the mixed doubles final with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Indian pair Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi. In the men's doubles final Saturday, American twins Bob and Mike Bryan are aiming for a Grand Slam record 12th major when they take on Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek.
