Yesterday's Australian Open Final made for extraordinarily strange viewing. The first two and half sets were perhaps the best in grand slam final history but then, for some reason, Andy Murray seemed to capitulate.
The Scot had Djokovic on the ropes before he reacted angrily to losing a game in the third set. From there on he only won a solitary game as the Serbian romped to victory. Speaking after the match, Djokovic put his victory down the mental strength he showed when Murray was pushing him to the limit:
I felt that I had some physical edge over him in that match. That was in the back of my mind. That was something that kept me going
Even though I went through this moment, I believed that I'm going to get that necessary strength. I'm going to have to earn it, and that's what I did.
Although he had looked drained at the start of the third set, Djokovic claimed that he knew he could regroup, saying 'You can't always be 100%, so you go through moments you can call crises during matches like these.'
This is advice Murray could benefit from.
