Djokovic draws Murray in final
melbourne, australia » Andy Murray arrived at the Australian Open prepared to become a father before becoming a champion in Melbourne.
Murray left his pregnant wife in Great Britain before the start of the tournament, promising to fly home at any time if needed.
But the 28- year- old Murray has now given himself a chance of becoming a tournament champion first after his five- set victory over Milos Raonic on Friday to reach the Australian Open final for the fifth time.
Murray’s 4- 6, 7- 5, 6- 7 ( 4), 6- 4, 6- 2 victory set up a showdown with five- time tournament champion Novak Djokovic in Sunday’s title match.
Murray is 0- 4 in finals at Melbourne Park, with Djokovic having won all five of his previous Australian Open finals.
“Five finals is a great achievement. You can’t take that away from me,” Murray said. “So I have to be proud of that achievement.
“It doesn’t matterwhat’s happened in the past.”
Three of Djokovic’s wins in Australia have come in finals against his old friend Murray, every odd- numbered year since 2011.
“He loves playing on this court, and we’ve played a bunch of times here,” Murray said. “Hopefully it can be a different result Sunday.”
Murray has had a lot on his mind in Melbourne. His wife, Kim, is expecting their first baby next month. His father- inlaw, Nigel Sears, was in Melbourne as Ana Ivanovic’s coach and had to be rushed to a hospital by ambulance during a match at Rod Laver Arena, which happened to coincide with Murray’s third- round match in an adjacent arena.
Sears spent a night in a hospital then was considered well enough to return home. While his father- in- law was being treated, Murray at times thought his departure from Australia may have been earlier than expected.
He stayed and won his next two matches in straight sets, shaking out some of the emotions.