The wait for a British men's grand slam champion continues as Novak Djokovic, the Serbian world No 3, beats an out-of-form Andy Murray 6-4, 6-2, 6-3. Here is how the match unfolded.
Third set Djokovic wins 6-3 and wins the Australian Open 6-4, 6-2, 6-3
Andy Murray desperately needed a good start to the third set if he was salvage anything from what was starting to become a chastening experience.
And he got precisely that as, after Novak Djokovic missed a makeable drive volley on game-point, he set up a break-point and took it with a fantastic forehand down the line.
But the hangdog expression was quick to return as he promptly threw away his advantage when, from 30-30, Murray looped a terrible forehand wide and then hammered a smash out of court.
A swift hold from Djokovic was followed by a break as the Serb, on the seventh opportunity, cracked a magnificent backhand pass down the line to move 3-1 up.
Perhaps sensing he was running out of time, Murray started going for a little more and he broke back to get the set back on serve when Djokovic dumped a drop-shot into the net.
He had to serve a break point to level for 3-3 and he found himself taken to deuce once more in his next service game.
And this time Murray was unable to escape the danger as he hit a running forehand into the middle of the net.
Serving for the championship, Djokovic displayed a few nerves but managed to get over the line when Murray netted another forehand.
Second set Djokovic wins 6-2, He leads 2-0
It is not looking good for Andy Murray and British tennis as Novak Djokovic powers into a two-set lead with a
Stats do not back the Scot either. According to Infostrada, the last competitor to win from 2-0 down at the Australian Open was Roy Emerson in 1965.
The last player to win any grand slam from two sets down was Gaston Gauido, the Argentine player, at the French Open in 2004 when he came back from the brink to beat Guillermo Coria.
Murray's shortcomings aside, Djokovic was starting to cut loose in the second and, after holding serve easily, two booming groundstrokes, one off each side, handed him a break point and the chance to further strengthen his grip on the match.
Murray saved it with a big first serve but a netted backhand presented Djokovic with a second opportunity which, having used Hawk-Eye to prove an ace was out, he took by easily chasing down a poor drop-shot before ripping a cross-court winner.
Another comfortable hold from Djokovic quickly saw the 2008 champion establish a 3-0 lead and extend his run of consecutive games won to five.
Murray was starting to implode and the Scot handed Djokovic a double break and a 4-0 advantage with an awful game which contained three unforced errors, two off the forehand side.
Djokovic was in no mood to let up and he made it 5-0 before Murray finally got on the board courtesy of a big ace out wide.
Belatedly, Murray was starting to hit through the ball and he got his first break of the match to pull it back to 5-2.
He appeared to be struggling with an eye problem, however, and Djokovic took full advantage, an incredible forehand on the run presenting him with a set point which he took for 6-2 when Murray netted a forehand.
First set Djokovic wins 6-4
Andy Murray's bid to be the first Briton to win a men's tennis major in 75 years is in trouble already as Novak Djokovic takes the first set at the Australian Open final.
A nervy opener remained on serve until the third seed made the breakthrough to claim it 6-4.
Djokovic made a composed start, holding to love in the first game whereas Murray looked decidedly edgy.
The Scot finally registered his first point at the seventh attempt and a fine running forehand got him back to 30-30. Djokovic was controlling the centre of the court, though, and a winning forehand took game two to deuce.
The Serb brought up the match's first break point but then hit a long forehand as Murray escaped.
It finally took Murray five deuces to hold, two big serves enabling the fifth seed to level it up at 1-1.
It was Murray's turn to threaten in the next game but, having got ahead 15-30, he played an awful smash to let Djokovic off the hook.
The game still went to deuce but an incorrect challenge and a poor forehand from Murray meant the match stayed on serve.
A stunning backhand pass helped Murray level at 2-2 but he could make little impression in Djokovic's next service game.
Two routine holds followed with Murray continuing to complain about the string tension in his rackets.
And while it may have been affecting his fluency off the ground, the serve was still looking good and he held, albeit largely due to two Djokovic errors, for 4-4.
The world No 3 stepped it up in the next game and, with Murray seemingly happy to be dictated to, hit winners off both sides to restore his one-game lead.
The alarm bells were ringing at 4-5, 15-30 on the Murray serve and the situation became even more dangerous when a fantastic 39-shot rally, which saw both players take and lose the initiative, went the way of Djokovic as he brought up two set points.
And Murray was unable to come through, a long forehand proving to be out after a challenge and the set was Djokovic's in 59 minutes.
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Earlier Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia and Canada's Daniel Nestor defeated Chan Yung-jan of Taiwan and Australia's Paul Hanley in the mixed doubles.
Brief scoreline:
Al Wahda 2
Al Menhali 27', Tagliabue 79'
Al Nassr 3
Hamdallah 41', Giuliano 45 1', 62'
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Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup – Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESmartCrowd%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2018%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESiddiq%20Farid%20and%20Musfique%20Ahmed%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinTech%20%2F%20PropTech%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInitial%20investment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%24650%2C000%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2035%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeries%20A%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EVarious%20institutional%20investors%20and%20notable%20angel%20investors%20(500%20MENA%2C%20Shurooq%2C%20Mada%2C%20Seedstar%2C%20Tricap)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
ULTRA PROCESSED FOODS
- Carbonated drinks, sweet or savoury packaged snacks, confectionery, mass-produced packaged breads and buns
- margarines and spreads; cookies, biscuits, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes, breakfast cereals, cereal and energy bars;
- energy drinks, milk drinks, fruit yoghurts and fruit drinks, cocoa drinks, meat and chicken extracts and instant sauces
- infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes,
- many ready-to-heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes, poultry and fish nuggets and sticks, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, powdered and packaged instant soups, noodles and desserts.
Russia's Muslim Heartlands
Dominic Rubin, Oxford
Monster
Directed by: Anthony Mandler
Starring: Kelvin Harrison Jr., John David Washington
3/5
SCORES IN BRIEF
New Zealand 153 and 56 for 1 in 22.4 overs at close
Pakistan 227
(Babar 62, Asad 43, Boult 4-54, De Grandhomme 2-30, Patel 2-64)
EMERGENCY PHONE NUMBERS
Estijaba – 8001717 – number to call to request coronavirus testing
Ministry of Health and Prevention – 80011111
Dubai Health Authority – 800342 – The number to book a free video or voice consultation with a doctor or connect to a local health centre
Emirates airline – 600555555
Etihad Airways – 600555666
Ambulance – 998
Knowledge and Human Development Authority – 8005432 ext. 4 for Covid-19 queries
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
WHAT%20IS%20'JUICE%20JACKING'%3F
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
LUKA CHUPPI
Director: Laxman Utekar
Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Cinema
Cast: Kartik Aaryan, Kriti Sanon, Pankaj Tripathi, Vinay Pathak, Aparshakti Khurana
Rating: 3/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Mamo
Year it started: 2019 Founders: Imad Gharazeddine, Asim Janjua
Based: Dubai, UAE
Number of employees: 28
Sector: Financial services
Investment: $9.5m
Funding stage: Pre-Series A Investors: Global Ventures, GFC, 4DX Ventures, AlRajhi Partners, Olive Tree Capital, and prominent Silicon Valley investors.