Djokovic's court presence, confidence too much for Murray
— -- MELBOURNE, Australia -- There were a few tense moments down the stretch in Sunday's men's final, but Novak Djokovic ran away with his sixth Australian Open title after a straight-sets win against No. 2 Andy Murray.
"It was pretty amazing to watch," ESPN analyst Brad Gilbert said of Djokovic. "He was in full control from the beginning. Murray showed some heart down the stretch, but by then it was too late."
Gilbert, who coached Murray for 16 months starting in 2006, broke down the five keys to Sunday's match:
1. The first two games
Djokovic faced a break point in the first game and ripped a massive backhand to save himself from going into an early hole, which could have changed the momentum right from the beginning. The second game, Murray was down 15-40 and hit an 83 mph double fault. The worst possible scenario. The first set was everything for Murray, but after that hole, it was a major uphill battle for him.
2. Court position
From the start, Murray needed to deny Djokovic the opportunity to control the center of the court and dictate play. But it turned out that this match was like most of the others between the two players -- Djoker shrunk the court against Murray. They had some really nice, competitive rallies, but it was Djokovic who controlled the angles and opened up the court more often.
3. Second-serve disparity
This has been one of the biggest differences between them. Djokovic fends off trouble on his second serve all the time, which is why he is rarely broken. Murray has historically had one of the worst second serves; that was no different Sunday. Djokovic broke him five times, and it could have been a lot more. We did see an increase in RPMs from Murray this time, but he got a little one-dimensional and didn't make Djokovic guess on the second serve.
4. All-around variety
When Murray beat Djokovic at Wimbledon in 2013, he mixed it up a lot more. He took pace off the balls, he hit hard at unexpected times. He took Djokovic out of his rhythm. Look at what Gilles Simon did to Djoker in the fourth round here. He didn't just grind; he kept Djokovic on his heels with off-speed and sharp angles. If you just try to hit through Djoker every time, he's going to have the answers.
5. Belief
We're in the presence of greatness. Djokovic knew he was the better player, and now he's going to take that belief into the French Open. We haven't seen a men's player get halfway to the Calendar Slam since Jim Courier in 1993, and it's only been Courier and Mats Wilander since Rod Laver won them all in 1969. But it's like the seventh inning of a perfect game -- you don't want to talk about it.
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