Novak Djokovic will attempt to take home his second straight Australian Open final when he competes against Rafael Nadal on Sunday. However, his path to the final was anything but easy. Early this morning, Novak overcame some breathing issues to hold off Andy Murray 6-3, 3-6, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 7-5 in a match that lasted just under 5 hours.

With a win over Nadal in the final, Djokovic would become just the fifth man since the Open Era started in 1968 to win three straight majors, joining Rod Laver, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and Nadal.

Andy Murray, even in defeat, took a step forward in his career. While he is clearly the #4 ranked player in the world, in the past Murray has struggled to compete with Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer. His match a year ago at the Aussie Open final with Djokovic ended in a straight sets defeat. Andy appears to have improved a few key areas of his game.

Murray hired eight-time major winner Ivan Lendl as his coach several weeks ago. Andy credits him with this quick improvement.

However, in the end it wasn't enough. The tennis world will see the top two players go at it once again in Major final.

More From 103.3 The GOAT