IF Andy Murray watched last night as Novak Djokovic set up their third meeting in an Australian Open final, he will either have drifted off to sleep more confident than ever or be steeling himself for another brutal test.

Djokovic's 7-6, 3-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 victory over last year's champion, Stan Wawrinka, ensured that he and Murray will go head to head for a grand slam title for the fifth time in their careers.

The pair are level at 2-2 in the previous four, but world No.1 Djokovic leads 15-8 over their careers, has won both their finals in Melbourne and, had you said before the tournament that they would have been meeting in another one, then the Serb would have been a strong favourite.

But for the first time in many years, Djokovic looked physically tired in his match with Wawrinka, gasping for air in the fourth set.

With his powers of recovery, Djokovic could easily come out firing at 100 per cent tomorrow - something Murray is well aware of - but the Scot may just have a little spring in his step as he attempts to win his third grand slam title.

Certainly he looked fresh yesterday as he practised at Melbourne Park, spurning any thought of taking a day off while Djokovic battled it out with Wawrinka.

Having played the first semi-final on Thursday, Murray will have had 24 hours more than the Serb to prepare for their final, but that does not always count much in Melbourne and tennis players, creatures of habit, sometimes like the day on, day off rhythm of a grand slam and are thrown when their routine is changed.

However, having an extra day to rest and prepare cannot be a bad thing and Murray may also have noted that Djokovic looked and sounded shattered when doing his media commitments late last night.

Certainly Nick Bollettieri, the coach who has produced a series of champions including Andre Agassi, Monica Seles and Maria Sharapova, spotted it. "I think a lot depends on if Djokovic is in [his usual] unbelievable shape," Bollettieri said yesterday.

"Because that's the first time we saw him [gasp], the first time in a long, long time. He does have a full day and a half before the finals so I don't know if that would be a [huge] factor."

Bollettieri gives Djokovic a narrow edge but said Murray's best chance would be to mix up his attack, sneaking to the net on occasion and going for his second serve, not allowing Djokovic to get into his customary returning rhythm.

"I don't know if Murray can just win battling it out from the baseline because although it's good to be patient, Novak can just rally all day," he said. "Murray is comfortable at the net and I think he's got to attack, stay on the baseline, not six to eight feet behind. Make Djokovic pass him."

If Djokovic was strangely inconsistent against Wawrinka - and without doubt it was nowhere near the high standard the pair have produced several times in the past few years - then as Bollettieri said, he still managed to win.

"He was very up and down, but look at the last set. We've all got to look at the scoreboard at the end, we can throw in this and that, but it was 6-0."

So for the third time in five years the final will be between the two old friends, who first met and first played each other when they were 12.

It is only eight years since they partnered each other in the boys' doubles event in Melbourne but a lot has changed since then, not least their haircuts.

In the intervening years, the pair's career path have been neck and neck but Djokovic has six grand slams to Murray's two and the Scot will be desperate to win a third.

That would put him above the likes of Marat Safin, Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Sergi Bruguera, and would be the perfect way to start the year.

But Murray knows better than anyone that if it's at all humanly possible, Djokovic will be there on the baseline tomorrow, trading blows and giving his all.

Asked if he'd had any physical issues against Wawrinka, Djokovic was honest enough to say yes, but then said he expected to be 100 per cent to face Murray.

"I think it was more mental in a way because once you back up and start playing defensively you spend a lot of energy," he said.

"He [Wawrinka] was the one that was dictating the rallies. There's no question about it. Some points of the match I did struggle physically to recover for the next one because I had to run a lot and he was getting a lot of balls back in play.

"I didn't have many free points on the first serve as I did throughout the tournament, so that was a significant change. But nothing that will worry me. I'm sure that I'll be fit and ready for finals."

As the four-time champion, Djokovic admitted he may have a slight edge on past efforts in Melbourne but said he expects a typically tough encounter.

"He's been playing some great tennis these couple of weeks, so it's going to be necessary to perform at my best and play the best match of the tournament if I want to win," he said.

"There's no clear favourite. But the record I have in finals against him here in Australia, we played couple times, can serve maybe as a slight mental edge.

"But not much. I don't think he's going to feel that on the court. I'm sure he's going to be very motivated to win his first title here. I'm going to, of course, give my best that that doesn't happen."