MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Defending champion Novak Djokovic moved into an Australian Open final against Rafael Nadal after edging Andy Murray in a five-set, almost five-hour semifinal late Friday night.
Despite appearing tired and sore from the second set, Djokovic rallied to beat Murray 6-3, 3-6, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 7-5 in a rematch of the 2011 final at Melbourne Park to reach his third consecutive Grand Slam final.
After wasting a chance to serve out the match at 5-3 in the fifth and letting Murray back into the contest, Djokovic cashed in his first match point when the Scottish player missed a forehand after 4 hours, 50 minutes.
Djokovic dropped onto his back, fully laid out on the court. He got up and shook hands with Murray, before jogging back out onto the court like a boxer, dropping to his knees and crossing himself.
It was already after 12:30 a.m. Saturday when he got up again and pumped his arms triumphantly.
“Andy deserves the credit to come back from 2-5 down. He was fighting. I was fighting,” Djokovic said. “Not many words that can describe the feeling of the match.
“It was a physical match … it was one of the best matches I played. Emotionally and mentally it was equally hard.”
It was a bitter setback for Murray, who lost the previous two Australian finals.
Djokovic finished last year at No. 1 after winning three of the four majors, including a straight-sets win over Murray in the Australian final. His only loss at a Grand Slam in 2011 was against Roger Federer in the French Open semifinals.
He is aiming to be only the fifth man in the Open Era started in 1968 to win three straight majors. His 70-6 win-loss record in 2011 included six wins over Nadal — all in finals.
Nadal, the 2009 Australian Open winner, beat four-time champion Federer in Thursday’s semifinal and has an extra day to prepare for Sunday night’s final.
After 25 Grand Slam tournaments, Victoria Azarenka is through to her first final. Maria Sharapova, her opponent in Saturday’s Australian Open title decider, has been there five times before, and won three.
That’s all history from Azarenka’s perspective.
“It’s no concern for me. I mean, I worked hard to be in this situation, so why stress about it?” Azarenka said Friday of the match that has a Grand Slam title and the No. 1 ranking on the line. “I want it and that’s what I’m looking for.”

Azarenka and Sharapova are two of the loudest “grunters” in women’s tennis. Others refer to it as shrieking, and Azarenka’s is more in alto, while Sharapova’s is a tad higher on the musical scale.
When the pair last played at Key Biscayne, Fla., last year, Azarenka said she felt her grunt was quieter than Sharapova’s.
At Rod Laver Arena this year, fans have started to mimic Azarenka during her matches. Stay tuned for more of the same when the fans hear it from both sides of the court Saturday.
The 22-year-old Azarenka and 24-year-old Sharapova are 3-3 in head-to-head meetings. But Azarenka holds the edge in two finals, having beaten Sharapova in straight sets at Stanford in 2010 and in Florida last year.
Instead of thinking dominance, Azarenka thinks Sharapova might be out for revenge.
“It’s very different, you cannot really look back,” Azarenka said. “It’s always difficult to play somebody you’ve beaten before. They have extra motivation to beat you.”
If Azarenka wins the final, she would be only the third player to rise to the top ranking after her first Grand Slam win. Martina Navratilova rose to No. 1 for the first time after winning Wimbledon in 1978, while Ana Ivanovic did the same after winning the 2008 French Open.
A win by Sharapova would mark the fourth time in the Russian’s career that she’s held the top ranking, the most recent in June 2008.

Overall, she’s been No. 1 for 17 nonconsecutive weeks.
Sharapova dismisses any thoughts of playing for the top ranking.
“Having been in the position before … I think, for me, it’s more about the Grand Slam win than the No. 1 ranking,” she said. “That’s just always been the goal for me.”