Djokovic grinds Murray down to win Australian Open

Andy Murray of Britain reacts after missing a shot to Novak Djokovic of Serbia during their men's singles final match at the Australian Open 2015 tennis tournament in Melbourne February 1, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

DJOKOVIC INJURY

The Serb broke Murray again to 5-3, but at a cost, injuring his thumb when he slipped on the hard court and calling for the doctors to get some treatment at the change of ends at 5-4 when handing serve back.

The Serb fumed at chair umpire Jake Garner over fans yelling out during points and grew more agitated as Murray held on to take the set into a tiebreak and compile a 4-2 lead after a string of attritional rallies.

With the set begging to be put away, Murray flinched, however, serving a double-fault and then rushing to the net, sending a volley an inch past the baseline to give Djokovic a set point.

Hammering a second serve return into the net, the Scot conceded it and a pumped-up Djokovic threw a steely-eyed glance at his player's box.

Frustrated, Murray channelled his anger into his tennis, jumping out to a 2-0 lead but soon after was chastising himself again.

He conceded 12 straight points to be broken again and fell back to 4-2.

The match was interrupted a game later when two people jumped on the court in an embarrassing security lapse to protest against the Australian government's off-shore detention of asylum seekers.

The players were forced to wait a few minutes as security restored order and the break gave Murray time to settle.