It took him almost five hours to defeat Andy Murray

Australian Open

In the decisive match of the Australian Open men's tournament against Rafael Nadal, last year's triumphant Novak Djokovic will play, who yesterday defeated Andy Murray in a grueling five-set match. The women's doubles competition in Melbourne was won for the first time by the Russian duo - Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva. Yesterday in the final match they defeated Italians Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci in three games.

The hit of yesterday's game day, of course, was the men's semi-final. He fully lived up to the expectations of fans who watched a smart five-set confrontation between Australian Open No. 1 and 4 Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray until 1 a.m. Melbourne time. This was the most intense fight in the history of their rivalry.

The Briton has clearly improved his game thanks to his collaboration with the legendary Ivan Lendl. First of all, this applies to playing from the back line. If earlier in long skirmishes Murray mainly took a wait-and-see attitude, primarily trying to take advantage of his opponent’s mistakes, now he skillfully varied his tactics. When necessary, he endured, when the situation demanded it, he fearlessly rushed into the attack. Murray was amazingly good both in defensive tennis, keeping the Serb at bay with sharp cutting shots, and in attack, placing balls in the corners with crushing shots from the baseline. Shortened strikes also appeared in his arsenal, with which he tormented the restless Djokovic on occasion. However, what was especially surprising was the lanky Scot's footwork: he seemed to move little around the court, but he always found himself in the right place, taking a winning position. It was no coincidence that Andy Murray was leading 2:1 in sets before he had an inexplicable breakdown.

Novak Djokovic, who acted throughout all three sets as a typical “spoiler” boxer, that is, as one who pays all his attention to defense and finding other people’s mistakes, unexpectedly took the fourth set with a score of 6:1, spending a measly 25 minutes on it. The game flashed by like a flash, although the match itself was extremely tense: each game (one of them lasted as much as a quarter of an hour) turned into a small battle. Inspired by the success, Djokovic took the lead in the fifth set - 5:2. It seemed that such a score turned further resistance for Murray into a futile task. Whatever the case! Murray turned the tide, taking three games in a row, and even had three break points on Djokovic's serve - in such a situation they turned into hidden match points. However, the frantic Serb won them all back. And then, easily, as if there had been almost five hours of fierce slashing, he took his opponent’s serve, reaching the final, where Rafael Nadal has been waiting for him since Thursday.

For Russia, Friday became a historic day: for the first time, a Russian women's pair won the Australian Open. Both Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva had previously won doubles events at Grand Slam tournaments (Kuznetsova in 2005 at the Australian Open, Zvonareva in 2006 at the US Open), but in both cases they were helped by foreigners: Australian Alicia Molik and Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy. Kuznetsova and Zvonareva did not perform together at all and, in principle, did not even plan to play at the Australian Open. They showed up at the very last moment: both tennis players admitted that they made their final decision the night before the final day of filing applications.

In the final, Zvonareva and Kuznetsova, on the contrary, were confronted by a very sophisticated couple: Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci have been performing together for two seasons. The difference in teamwork was noticeable in the first set, which the Russians spent grinding in and studying their opponents, who took the game - 7:5. The dissonance in the play of the Russian pair was obvious. Kuznetsova, thanks to her excellent volley, decent slice shot and well-placed serve, acted like a true doubles player. Zvonareva, who preferred to exchange blows from the back line, behaved like a typical singles player. In essence, Svetlana Kuznetsova pulled out the match, and it was no coincidence that after the final, Vera Zvonareva lavished compliments on her partner, who ensured success in the next two games - 6:4, 6:3.

After such a successful start to the season in doubles, journalists tormented the Russians with questions about continuing their cooperation with an eye to the Olympics in London. However, Kuznetsova and Zvonarev disappointed their fans by declaring that their priority was the single Olympic tournament. However, the head coach of the Russian national team Shamil Tarpishchev can adopt a new pairing combination: at the end of next week the Russians will play in the quarterfinals of the Federation Cup with the Spanish.

Petr Kuznetsov

Australian Open

Women. Couples. The final. Svetlana Kuznetsova - Vera Zvonareva (Russia) - Sara Errani - Roberta Vinci (Italy) 5:7, 6:4, 6:3.

Men. Semi-final. Novak Djokovic (Serbia, 1) - Andy Murray (Great Britain, 4) 6:3, 3:6, 6:7 (4:7), 6:1, 7:5.

In the final on Sunday they meet: Djokovic - Rafael Nadal (Spain).

Novak Djokovic delayed the final