Novak Djokovic defeats Andy Murray to seal fifth Australian Open title

Novak Djokovic has won his fifth Australian Open and an eighth career Grand Slam after defeating Andy Murray in a thrilling final in Melbourne.

A pulsating opening two sets saw the British number one match Djokovic stride for stride but the Serbian took control of the final two sets to seal a 7-6 (7-5) 6-7 (7-4) 6-3 6-0 win, his third Australian Open final victory over Murray.

Murray has now lost all four of his visits to the final in Australia, having also lost the 2010 final to Roger Federer.

An exhausting opening set that lasted 72 minutes saw Djokovic take the lead after a tense tie-break. But the Scot pulled it back after another draining exchange between the two in the second set that forced another tie-break, creating four sets points before clinching another in the decider.

Murray started the better of the two in the third set after breaking his opponent in the opening game and managing to hold in the following game. After appearing to struggle with an injury, Djokovic however swiftly dug deep and claimed the next three games to take a 3-2 lead.

After a relentless opening two sets that lasted over two and a half hours, the pace of the contest began to show as Murray's game began to wither and a collapse began. A double fault handed Djkovic his sixth break of the match and allowed the Serb to wrestle control of the set.

Having opened up a gap on the Scot, Djokovic swiftly and brutally began to close in on victory in the fourth set, striding into an emphatic 3-0 lead with a double break in the fourth as Murray began to wilt. The 27-year-old completed a flawless final set to see out victory.

Victory takes Djokovic's tally of Grand Slams to eight, level with other greats Andre Agassi, Ken Rosewall, Ivan Lendl, Jimmy Connors and Fred Perry.

"I'd like to thank my team up there - it has been a tough year," said Murray, he underwent back surgery 16 months ago. "I'm closer than I was a few months ago and I'll keep working hard to get there."I'll try to come back next year and have a slightly different outcome in the final."