Novak Djokovic has dismissed suggestions he was faking injury during his record-setting Australian Open final triumph, saying he suffered through a genuine “physical crisis” before putting Andy Murray to the sword.

After trailing by a break and looking wobbly on his feet early in the pivotal third set, Djokovic roared back to win 12 of the last 13 games for a 7-6 (7-5) 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 6-0 victory on a drama-charged night at Melbourne Park.

The Serbian superstar is the first man in 47 years of professional tennis to snare five Australian Open crowns, his victory also consigning Murray to a more dubious place in the record books.

After also succumbing to Djokovic in the 2013 and 2011 finals and to Roger Federer in 2010, the vanquished Scot is the first man in the open era to lose four title matches at Melbourne Park.

War-time great John Bromwich, a two-time winner of the event, is the only the other player in the 110-year history of the championships to lose four or more men’s singles finals.

But rather than be allowed to bask in the glory of joining all-time greats Andre Agassi, Ivan Lendl, Jimmy Connors, Ken Rosewall and Fred Perry as an eight-time grand slam champion, Djokovic was peppered in his post-match press conference with questions about his on-court theatrics.

On several occasions, the Serb clumsily lost his footing and balance and was often gasping for air during the sapping encounter.

When he lamely dropped serve to fall behind 2-0 in the third set, the top seed looked down and out.

Djokovic, though, insisted his troubles were legitimate and he flatly dismissed suggestions of gamesmanship.

“I think everybody predicted, it was going to be a big battle,” Djokovic said.

“Very similar match to the Australian Open final in 2013 when we played over two hours (for) the first two sets.

“Tonight two-and-a-half hours (for) the first two sets. Very physical. Very exhausting.

“We both, of course, went through some tough moments physically. You could see that I had a crisis at the end of the second (and) beginning of the third.

“I just felt very exhausted and I needed some time to regroup and recharge and get back on track. That’s what I’ve done.”

Djokovic’s physical distress followed the controversy of several protesters being removed from Rod Laver Arena and two arrested for invading centre court and unfurling a pro-immigration banner.

But the Serbian ironman fought through his “crisis” and retained his poise to win a gripping decider in three hours and 39 minutes.

The 27-year-old now trails only legends Roger Federer (17), Rafael Nadal (14), Pete Sampras (14), Roy Emerson (12), Rod Laver (11), Bjorn Borg (11) and Bill Tilden (10) on the all-time grand slam leaderboard.

Despite Murray’s latest Melbourne Park despair, the Scot will return to the world’s top four on Monday after slipping to as low as 12th last year following a tough recovery from back surgery in late 2013.

Murray thanked his oft-maligned coach Amelie Mauresmo for putting him back on track.

“We put in a lot of hard work to try and get back in this position after what was a difficult year,” he said.

“I’ll try and come back next year and hope to have a slightly different outcome in the final.”

Source: AFP