Djokovic outlasts Murray in Australian Open semi

By Peter Rutherford

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Novak Djokovic survived a brutal battle of wills with grand slam nearly man Andy Murray on Friday to reach the final of the Australian Open against fellow fighter Rafa Nadal.

Defending champion Djokovic fought the Briton to a standstill in a 6-3 3-6 6-7 6-1 7-5 victory after almost five hours of heart-stopping, hand-wringing tennis at Rod Laver Arena.

After finally swatting away Murray's semi-final challenge, the world number one crumpled to the court in exhausted relief, barely able to flick off the moths fluttering around his arms.

Murray could easily have walked away as the winner, Djokovic acknowledged.

"Both of us believed that we can win, and that's how we played," he told reporters. "It could have easily gone the other way. He was a couple of points away from winning the match, so I was lucky to go as a winner."

A shattered Murray exited with his head held high after proving without doubt he belongs in the elite company of Djokovic, Nadal and Roger Federer - beaten by the Spaniard in Thursday's first semi-final.

"Tonight's match was important for many reasons," said a drained Murray. "Obviously I wanted to win first and foremost. But after the year that Novak's had, I think there's a very fine line between being No. 1 in the world and being three or four.

"I think that gap, I feel tonight I closed it."