ITF

26 ITFWORLD SPRING 2016 AUSTRALIAN OPEN N ow all they can do is wait. Wait for his motivation to wane, or attrition to weary him, or a blinding, left-field performance — like that of Stan Wawrinka in Paris last year — to slow Novak Djokovic's march to tennis immortality. A sixth Australian Open title, over an emotionally drained Andy Murray 61 75 76, saw the super Serb equal Roy Emerson's amateur-era mark and draw level on 11 majors with Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver. Suddenly, Rafael Nadal's 14-major mark is achievable this year. Even Roger Federer's once-untouchable tally of 17 is reachable for the 28-year-old in his bristling prime. Victory at Roland Garros would deliver an elusive career Grand Slam, and a four-major sweep — a feat missing from the resumes of both his great rivals. Djokovic does not acknowledge his dominance — "You can get a big slap from karma. I don't want that." But he continues to separate himself, nowhere more starkly than at his most successful Slam. Djokovic has lost one match in Melbourne in the last six years, to 2014 champion Wawrinka (that man again). He extended his Aussie mastery of his fellow Big Four to 9-1. Even a fourth-round wobble with 100 unsightly errors against Gilles Simon only served to tease; a fallible Djokovic is still far from beatable. He survived in five, gave himself a day off, and smoked Kei Nishikori in the quarters. Djokovic tipped his legendary rivalry with Federer 23-22 in his favour in a blockbuster semifinal; his 61 62 swoop of the first two sets as eye-popping as anything the Swiss master produced in his prime. Federer sparkled in wins over Grigor Dimitrov, David Goffin and Tomas Berdych, but he hasn't toppled Djokovic in a major since Wimbledon 2012. His last win over Djokovic in Melbourne? Go back nine years. Djokovic also pulled ahead 24-23 in his monster rivalry with Nadal, hammering the Spaniard 61 62 in the Doha final. "[He] did everything perfect," remarked the shell-shocked Rafa. "I know nobody playing tennis like this, ever." Nadal's prospects of re-emerging as a Grand Slam force dimmed with his opening- round loss to fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco. Murray slipped to 9-22 against Djokovic, and 0-5 in Melbourne. Aside from bruising wins over David Ferrer and Milos Raonic, Murray was emotionally spent dealing with impending fatherhood and the mid-tournament hospitalisation of his father-in-law, Nigel Sears. The perennial runner-up departed with the gloomy record of two sets won from five lost finals. Figures that seemed less important to Murray than the first flight home. (He and wife Kim welcomed a daughter the following Sunday.) World No. 1 Novak Djokovic continued his domination of the Australian Open, while Angelique Kerber stunned Serena Williams in one of the all-time Grand Slam upsets at Melbourne Park, says Suzi Petkovski. DJOKOVIC STEAMS Novak Djokovic World No. 1 Novak Djokovic continued his domination of the Australian Open, while Angelique Kerber stunned Serena Williams in one of the all-time Grand Slam upsets at Melbourne Park, says Suzi Petkovski. The world No. 1 collected his 11th major title

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