Agony for Murray in epic semi-final

The Scot had been up two sets to one, but Djokovic justified his status at the top of the world rankings to prevail 6-3, 3-6, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 7-5 to book his place in the final at Melbourne Park.

The defeat will hit Murray hard, this reverse prolonging his quest for a first grand slam, but he will equally be buoyed by the manner in which he fought to the very end.

Djokovic spurned a chance to serve out the match at 5-3 in the fifth and let Murray back into the contest. However the Serb cashed in his first match point when the Scottish player missed a forehand after four hours, 50 minutes.

"You have to find strength in those moments and energy, and that keeps you going," he said. "At this level, very few points decide the winner.

"I think we both went through a physical crisis. You know, him at the fourth set, me all the way through the second and midway through the third. It was a very even match throughout, from the first to the last point."

Djokovic slumped in a heap on court after his victory was confirmed and the epic nature of the match surely makes Rafael Nadal favourite to capture the Australian crown on Sunday.

It was already 12.30am on Saturday when the match finished and, though both players probably just wanted to go to bed, Murray was irked to learn that he was required to undertake a drugs test.

"Just a bit annoyed," Murray said of the ill-timed intrusion.

"I know the players go on about it a lot, but they've changed these rules with the drug test. I've just done the drug test, the urine test."

He added: "They just told me I need to sit down for 30 minutes before I can give blood... it's really a frustrating thing to have to go through at 1am in the morning."

Maria Sharapova takes on Victoria Azarenka tomorrow night in the women's singles final.

Russian star Sharapova has won three majors, but none since the 2008 Australian Open. Azarenka of Belarus will be playing her first grand slam final. There is an added bonus up for the grabs too, with the victor moving to the top of women's rankings.

Russians Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva won the women's doubles final today with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 victory over the Italian duo of Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci.