Murray so proud but Serbian to face Nadal

Andy Murray felt he could walk away from the Australian Open with his head held high after narrowly losing out to Novak Djokovic in a thrilling five-set semi-final.

He may have fallen short to reach a third successive title decider in Melbourne but the manner of his loss to the world number one was in stark contrast to the limp surrender in his final losses to Roger Federer in 2010 and Djokovic last year.

The match, all four hours and 50 minutes of it, was decided by a few points. Having hit back from 5-2 down in the fifth, Murray failed to convert three break points at 5-5. Djokovic then held and broke himself to win 6-3 3-6 6-7 (4/7) 6-1 7-5 and advance to tomorrow’s final against Rafael Nadal.