By Chris Oddo | Saturday, June 6, 2015
Andy Murray forced a fifth set but Novak Djokovic had all the answers in the decider to move into his 16th Grand Slam final on Saturday in Paris.
Photo Source: AP
Andy Murray took Novak Djokovic to a fifth set on Saturday in Paris, but the Scot’s improbable comeback attempt stopped there as Djokovic responded with a flawless deciding set to reach his third Roland Garros final.
Read about Part 1 of the Djokovic-Murray Semifinal Here
Djokovic’s 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 5-7, 6-1 victory marks his 8th straight decision over Murray and lands him in his 16th career Grand Slam final where he’ll face Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka.
Picking up their battle at 3-all in the fourth set, both players started strong, holding serve easily to bring the score to 5-all. But an inspired Murray would soon break through for a 6-5 lead when Djokovic sailed a backhand long on Murray’s second break point of the eleventh game.
Murray claimed the set in the next game when another backhand from the Serb sailed a smidgen long.
The Scot, who entered the match with a 15-match winning streak on clay, was bidding to become just the fourth player to come back from two sets to love down in a French Open semifinal, but his rosy situation soon grew thorny when he netted a forehand in the second game of the decider to give Djokovic a critical break.
Djokovic continued to pressure Murray throughout the decider, and his efforts were rewarded in the sixth game when Murray shanked a backhand to give the Serb a break point for a 5-1 lead.
After a protracted rally, Djokovic laced an inside-out forehand winner to add to his lead.
He would cement his place in the final in the next game when he delivered an ace out wide on his first match point.
Djokovic joins Bjorn Borg and Ken Rosewall at sixth on the ATP’s all-time list for Grand Slam finals reached with 16.
Djokovic owns a 17-3 lifetime edge over Wawrinka, including the last two and 16 of 17.