Djokovic edged semi-final win against Andy Murray

Defending champion Novak Djokovic moved into an Australian Open final against Rafael Nadal after edging Andy Murray in a five-set, almost five-hour semifinal late Friday night.

Despite appearing tired and sore from the second set, Djokovic rallied to beat Murray 6-3, 3-6, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 7-5 in a rematch of the 2011 final at Melbourne Park to reach his third consecutive Grand Slam final.

After wasting a chance to serve out the match at 5-3 in the fifth and letting Murray back into the contest, Djokovic cashed in his first match point when the Scottish player missed a forehand after 4 hours, 50 minutes.

Djokovic: "Andy deserves the credit to come back from 2-5 down. He was fighting. I was fighting,'' Djokovic said. "Not many words that can describe the feeling of the match.

"It was a physical match ... it was one of the best matches I played. Emotionally and mentally it was equally hard.''