Murray tunes out during Djokovic’s semi

Novak Djokovic held a captive audience around the world on Friday night, but Andy Murray wasn’t among them.

Murray, enjoying an extra day off ahead of Sunday’s Australian Open final, opted for some downtime at dinner instead of tuning in to Djokovic’s five-setter against Stan Wawrinka.

“I didn’t watch any of the match last night … but I’m going to watch the parts of the match I want to watch this evening,” the Scot said on Saturday, outlining his plans to review footage with coach Amelie Mauresmo.

“It will be beneficial to go over it, just like I have done every other match since I have been here this event.”

It wasn’t as if Murray didn’t care who he was playing – the two-time grand slam champion actively followed the scores on his phone at dinner.

But the 27-year-old, seeking his first title at Melbourne Park, wanted to be as disinterested as possible.

“I didn’t really want to sit there for three, three-and-a-half hours last night worrying about the match,” he said.

“I’d rather save that for this evening and try and conserve a little bit of energy and mental energy … for the match.”

Murray has finished runner-up at the Australian Open three times, including losses to Djokovic in the 2011 and 2013 finals.

In sharp contrast, Djokovic has won all four finals he has contested at Melbourne Park.

“He has a fantastic record here. He obviously loves the court and the conditions,” Murray said.

“I’ve never won against him here before.

“It would be a big upset if I manage to win.”

Murray noted he had pulled up well after dismissing Tomas Berdych in four sets on Thursday.

But he downplayed any advantage the added day off provided, citing Djokovic’s recuperative abilities in 2012.

“I played against him in the semi-final and I could barely walk a couple days later,” Murray said.

“But he recovered from a five-hour match and then won the final in six hours.

“I don’t really know who it favours, to be honest.”

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