What’s the only thing hotter than the current heat wave in Miami? Novak Djokovic, of course.
Djokovic pulled off the spring hard-court Masters 1000 double by winning the Miami Open on Sunday afternoon. The world No. 1 scored another victory over familiar foe Andy Murray, prevailing 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-0 after two hours and 46 minutes.
Now 25-2 on the season, Djokovic has won 23 of his last 24 matches. He owns three titles, all of them huge–Indian Wells, Miami, and also the Australian Open. Additionally, the Serb improved to 18-8 lifetime against Murray and has won seven in a row in the head-to-head series.
Djokovic just recently destroyed Murray in the desert, but this one was more competitive right from the start–albeit not all the way to the finish. Murray seized an early break of serve and although he gave it back, the Scot managed to force a tiebreaker. Even after dropping the ‘breaker, Murray made another recovery to take the second with a break at 5-4.
Not unlike in their Melbourne final, however, the world No. 4 wilted at the end. An exhausted Murray offered little resistance in the third as Djokovic cruised without the loss of a single game.
“It’s tough, because it was obviously pretty brutal conditions out there,” the runner-up lamented. “He was stronger than me at the end, for sure.”
“It was just a physical battle between the two of us that play similar game,” Djokovic said. “We [didn’t serve] that well, so we [didn’t have] that many free points. With first or second serves, we needed to earn every single point, to work for it. That’s why this particular match was very tough.”
Both players can now prepare for the clay-court swing, which begins this upcoming week in Houston and Casablanca. The first clay Masters 1000 of the year will take place later this month in Monte-Carlo.
Highlights:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyeL16pXRmQ]
Djokovic post-match interview:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PUosij0Eek]
I didn’t see the match but that 6-0 in the last set reveals a great difference between these two, can’t be mental since Murray won the 2nd set so it has to be physical, Andy better start working on his endurance if he wants to give himself a chance.
Pitty Rafa crossed himself out early, I felt he had a chance at this one…
Let’s see what the clay brings in its drift