MELBOURNE, Australia — It was after midnight, meaning it was officially Sunday, the day of his Australian Open singles final against Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray was in the audience at Rod Laver Arena shooting video with his smartphone. On the court, Murray’s older brother, Jamie, paused in mid-interview to scold him. “Andy, you should be in bed,” he said.
A day earlier, the second-seeded Andy Murray had finished a four-hour, five-set semifinal victory against Milos Raonic. In 18 hours, he would meet Djokovic in a battle of No. 2 vs. No. 1. And yet, instead of resting in his hotel room or recharging in a hyperbaric chamber as Djokovic no doubt was doing, he watched the end of his brother’s tense victory with Bruno Soares in the doubles final.