Millions were watching Melbourne today as Andy Murray came face-to-face with an old rival for their fifth Grand Slam final showdown.
There was everything to play for as the 27-year-old began the Australian Open men's final against Serbian Novak Djokovic. In their four previous Grand Slam final meetings, each of them has won twice.
Fans were not disappointed by the first two sets - described as some of the most brutal BBC commentators have ever seen.
Together they lasted two and a half hours with the titans neck-and-neck throughout, leading to a pair of tense tie-breaks - the first won by Djokovic and the second won by Murray.
Neither were fans disappointed with Murray's fiancée Kim Sears.
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Dubbed 'Kim Swears' for her alleged tirade at 'Czech flash f***' Thomas Berdych during his semi-final against Murray on Thursday, she stuck out her tongue cheekily as she wore a black-and-white top bearing the slogan 'Parental Advisory: Explicit Content'.
But an exhausted, angry Murray came apart in the third set - losing 6-3 in just 39 minutes after shouting 'So unhelpful! So unhelpful!' in what keen-eared fans claimed was an expletive-laden outburst of his own.
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Cheeky: Andy Murray's fiancée Kim Sears was light-hearted about her sweary outburst of Thursday - wearing a 'Parental advisory explicit content' top in the crowd as the Scottish tennis star faced Novak Djokovic in a tense, drawn-out showdown at the Australian Open final
The work begins: Murray in the opening set in Melbourne. 'It will probably be very, very tough and challenging physically', he said
Sweat: The first set came down to a tense tie-break between the two tennis greats - who have an even record in Grand Slam final face-offs
Kim Sears was apparently seen to mouth: 'F*****g have that, you Czech flash f***' towards opponent Thomas Berdych in Thursday's semi-final - and though she has not confirmed what she said, she seemed happy to laugh off the controversy today.
She was alone in flying the flag for Murray because his mother Judy, usually present at big matches, returned to Britain after the semi-final to prepare for Britain's female Fed Cup match with Hungary this week.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2934265/Murray-eyes-big-upset-final.html#ixzz3QUlFNFBj
