• Sony Ericsson Open

Djokovic downs Murray in Miami to add name to legends

Novak Djokovic defended his Sony Ericsson Open title against Andy Murray in Miami © PA Photos

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Andy Murray failed to find his best tennis on Sunday as Novak Djokovic joined the illustrious names of Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras by becoming one of only three men to complete a hat-trick of Sony Ericsson Open titles.

Djokovic, the defending champion who also triumphed in Miami back in 2007, has been the best player throughout the tournament, reaching the final without dropping a set. Murray, by contrast, had seen his rhythm disrupted by two injury-enforced walkovers earlier in the week, and a mixture of lacklustre errors from the Brit and stubborn serving from Djokovic saw the Serbian claim a 6-1 7-6(4) victory.

Murray entered the match already with previous experience of defeating Djokovic in the Miami final. Sunday's clash was a repeat of their 2009 encounter, won by the Scot for his only success in the competition to date.

Further confidence could be taken by Murray believers in the fact that, since becoming world No. 1, Djokovic has only lost to one man twice. That man was Murray who, despite a losing 7-5 head-to-head record against the Serb, had actually won five of their most recent eight meetings.

However, it was Djokovic who made the first telling move when he broke in the fourth game, forcing his rival to send a backhand wide from deep behind the baseline. The top seed then cemented his advantage by saving a break point on his own serve, leaping onto an early forehand to deny Murray an immediate route back into the contest.

Djokovic was very much the boss, both from the baseline and during his brief ventures to the net, and another booming forehand led to back-to-back breaks of the Murray serve, allowing him to close out the first set 6-1 with an ace.

Playing in his tenth ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final, Murray had only lost one of the previous nine, yet his serve - among several disappointing areas of his game - was failing to function. Accuracy and speed was lacking from the Scot's delivery, but he did at least manage to win a sensational net exchange in the first game of the second stanza to avoid falling a set and a break behind.

Djokovic had two more chances to penetrate the Murray serve in the third game, but after hooking the first wide off his forehand side, the Serb then completely ran out of steam on the second - showing Murray that he could perhaps win a survival of the fittest.

The quality of tennis from both men was growing as Murray became a competitive factor in the match for the first time since the opening exchanges, and he enjoyed his easiest hold of the set to stay on serve at 4-3. He even threatened his first break of the match when he led 0-30 in the eighth game, but Djokovic's heavy serve - particularly out wide - averted the danger.

Generally it was Murray being made to work harder though thanks to the depth of Djokovic's groundstrokes, and he had to save another break point after he double-faulted for only the second time. The players by now were averaging an energy-sapping ten minutes per game in the set, and they had to contend with an additional tiebreaker to decide it.

Early mini-breaks were exchanged before Murray won the point of the match with a quite incredible running drop shot from outside of the court. However, an untimely double-fault handed the advantage to Djokovic at 3-2, and the world No. 1 closed out the match for his 30th ATP Tour title.

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