It's agony for Andy Murray as he loses to Novak Djokovic in a five-set thriller

Djokovic beat Murray in the final last year without dropping a set but this was a much closer affair that took both players to the physical and mental limit in front of a sell-out crowd on Rod Laver Arena.

The presence of new coach Ivan Lendl could not get Murray into a third successive final here and he saw the Scot struggle physically in the deciding set after Djokovic had come back strongly, having looked in trouble after just two sets. Murray wasted three break points in the 11th game of the fifth set and Djokovic made him pay to clinch one of the most amazing semi-finals ever seen in Melbourne.

"It was a very good match and I had chances," said the Brit. "To lose is very tough after having those break chances and I am proud at the way I fought. I was poor in the first set and then got better and some of the points in the third set were brutal. Physically, both of us were tired."

Djokovic now faces Rafael Nadal for the title on Sunday and goes into that match having beaten the Spaniard in all six of their final meetings last year.

The Serb was overjoyed to have made his third successive Grand Slam final and said: "Andy came back so well after 5-2 down and was fighting and words cannot describe my feelings at winning this match. It was a physical match and one of the best I've played and emotionally it was even harder because we were breaking each other's serves. Now, another final with Rafa and what can be a bigger challenge than playing him."

Murray lost in successive finals here in Melbourne and had real problems picking up his game in the months that followed and now it will be up to Lendl to ensure his new charge does not suffer a dip again.

The Scot was lethargic during the opening set and that allowed Djokovic to dictate throughout.

Murray needed to save two break points in his first service game before wasting one of his own on the Serb's serve. Djokovic made the first break of the match in the fourth courtesy of a double fault and it summed up the inconsistent nature of Murray's heavy legged tennis.

Murray broke back immediately only to hand it straight back to Djokovic and suddenly the first set had got away from the Scot 6-3 in 47 minutes. The British No1 needed to find his true form but lost his serve in the opening game of the next set and it took until the fourth game for Murray to start to run Djokovic around to good effect.

Murray was dominating the longer points which suited his plan to tire Djokovic out.

The intensity of the tennis was increased and suddenly we had a contest worthy of a semi-final. Murray broke in the sixth game only to lose it straight away in the next despite great defensive work that even got a reaction from the normally placid Lendl.

Showing real self belief, Murray broke again to lead 5-3 and wrapped up the set by punishing the back-hand side of Djokovic's defence and the world No1 was blowing hard as the match reached one hour 52 minutes for just two sets.

Murray should have built on the momentum but threw away five break points in a game that lasted an amazing 18 minutes at the start of the third. An overhead was enough to bring up the break and Murray led 2-1 but, once again, he gave it away in the next with sloppy play.

Djokovic was able to stay in the set thanks to a drop in Murray's standard of ground strokes and the Serb helped his breathing by taking some kind of nasal spray during a change over and tried to hide the moment with a towel on his head. At 5-4 down, Murray started to look sluggish as the match headed toward three hours. He saved two set points with an ace and a wonderful forehand but a backhand smash ended up in the net to create a third set point for the top seed.

Murray saved that with a clever drop shot and served out for 5-5. He then took his defensive scrambling to new heights with a brilliant point that allowed him to break 6-5 and serve for the set.

However, nerves got to Murray and he served badly, allowing Djokovic to make it 6-6. Murray brilliantly moved into a 6-3 lead in the tie-break and despite wasting one set point, came through strongly to lead two sets to one.

But Murray lost his serve in the next game. His footwork started to look sluggish as Djokovic took a 3-0 lead and the spectre of a strength sapping fifth-set duel was looming. Murray found enough appetite to hold to trail 4-1 but the momentum was now with the reigning champion. Djokovic took the set 6-1 in just 25 minutes - just over an hour shorter than the third - and it also meant that by breaking Murray, the world No1 would serve first in the final set.

Both players were being affected by the length of the contest although Murray saved three break points to take it to 2-2. He was broken in the sixth game with Djokovic yelling loudly but broke back in the ninth - when the Serb served for the match - to make it 5-4.

Djokovic fought off Murray's late effort and took the win.