MELBOURNE, Australia — Huffing and stretching with full-throttle effort, ripping forehands from inside the baseline, Andy Murray for quite some time seemed to be a player on a mission to impose a new ending for himself at the Australian Open.  But Novak Djokovic had other ideas, and a cooler head, and in the critical phases of their latest big match in Melbourne, the scene was familiar as Djokovic kept collecting games and momentum and Murray kept berating both himself and the tennis fates.  Djokovic’s 7-6 (5), 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-0 victory, which seemed so difficult in the beginning but ended so easily, gave him a fifth Australian Open singles title and an eighth Grand Slam singles title.  While Djokovic is now 5-0 in finals at Melbourne Park, Murray is 0-4. He has beaten Djokovic in other places for other major trophies, but on the hardcourts here, he has been unable to control big rallies or his own emotions well enough to make the difference.  “I don’t think you can really quantify what that pressure does to someone,” Jim Courier, the former No. 1 and current United States Davis Cup captain, told Australian television. “I think it’s really hard to understand unless you’ve been in that caldron. Murray is a guy who wears it on his sleeve. Some may love it. Some may hate it, but he lets you know what he’s feeling.”  Despite Murray’s often-inspired play earlier in the tournament and in the first two sets of the final, it was difficult not to interpret Sunday’s gesticulations and running monologue as regression — the kind of distraction he tended to avoid when Ivan Lendl, his former coach, was sitting stone-faced behind his sunglasses in the players’ box. With Lendl in his corner, Murray won the 2012 Olympic gold medal in singles, the 2012 United States Open and Wimbledon in 2013.  But his convincing run back to the final here as the No. 6 seed with his new coach, Amélie Mauresmo, put him firmly back in the mix at the top, and that top does look very familiar.  When the ATP rankings are updated on Monday, it will be Djokovic at No. 1, followed by Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Murray.  The other three men all have had extended runs at No. 1. Federer has a record 17 major singles titles; Nadal has 14; and Djokovic now has eight, tied for eighth on the career list with Andre Agassi, Jimmy Connors, Lendl, Ken Rosewall and Fred Perry. Murray has two major singles titles and a career-high ranking of No. 2.  Rosewall was one of several members of Australian tennis royalty in attendance Sunday night in Rod Laver Arena, along with Laver himself and Roy Emerson, the only man to have won more titles at this tournament than Djokovic.  Emerson won his six before 1968, when the Open era began and the Grand Slam tournaments became accessible to professionals as well as amateurs. Emerson handed Djokovic the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup at the victory ceremony on Sunday night.  “There’s the baby,” Djokovic said affectionately when it was placed in front of him later at a news conference.  The trophy must indeed feel like part of the family after his five victories, with the first four coming in 2008, ’11, ’12 and ’13. But he said that what really gave this latest victory meaning was his marriage to Jelena Ristic, whom he wedded last year, and the birth of their son, Stefan.  “I think it has deeper meaning, more intrinsic value now to my life because I’m a father and a husband,” Djokovic said of the title.  This final, played on a cool and blustery summer evening, was intense from the first rally as Murray and Djokovic, men with similar games and similar defensive skills, tested each other in a series of long athletic exchanges.  It was often breathtaking in both senses of the term. The first set required 72 minutes; the second 80, partly because two protesters managed to enter the court before being removed by security.  But early in that second set, Djokovic began losing his balance during some rallies, falling in the first game and pitching forward again in the second.  After Murray won the second set, Djokovic’s problems continued. Murray broke him in the opening game of the third and then held serve at love to take a 2-0 lead when Djokovic barely moved for two shots he would normally have chased.  “Two and a half hours for two sets has taken a toll on our bodies, both of us,” Djokovic told an Australian TV station. “I was trying not to show him, because you don’t want to show your opponents you are going through some tough physical moments. But I did.”  Djokovic said the problem was in his legs. “Just my thighs, my quads,” he said. “After playing two hours and something, I didn’t feel I have the strength in my thighs.”  He said he did not ask for medical assistance because he did not feel he had a specific injury. “I didn’t have any cramps,” he said. “I just felt weakness at that stage.”  Djokovic has experienced similar problems before, struggling to remain upright in a match in Shanghai against Juan Martín del Potro in 2013. But Djokovic’s powers of quick recovery have been a major factor in his continuing success. Down by 0-2 in the third set Sunday, he won his next service game at love.  “Don’t worry about him,” Murray said to himself on court, an apparent reference to Djokovic’s physical issues. “He does it all the time.”  But Murray did continue to worry. In the next game he lost his serve and his scoreboard advantage. After Djokovic held to go up, 3-2, Murray sat in his chair during the changeover and swore repeatedly.  He managed to get to 3-3 and get a break point in the subsequent game, but he did not convert. After losing his own serve to go down, 3-5, he chucked his racket. “So many times,” he said. “How do you do it to yourself?”  Murray was asked later if he thought Djokovic’s manifestations of physical distress were deliberate.  “I would hope that wouldn’t be the case,” he said.  Djokovic said he did not notice that he had distracted Murray. But perhaps he was too busy sweeping through the end of the match, winning nine straight games as what had looked like a classic final tailed off into a deflating, ill-tempered rout.  “The third set was frustrating, because I got a bit distracted when he, like, fell on the ground after a couple of shots,” Murray said, adding: “That’s what I’m most disappointed about. Not so much the fourth set because I think, especially at the end of it, he was just going for everything. But the third set was more frustrating for me.”  But Murray is no rookie. At 27, he has a wealth of major tournament experience, and he acknowledged that he should have concentrated on his own end of the court.  “He absolutely collapsed,” Pat Cash, the former Wimbledon champion from Australia, said in a radio interview. “You like to put a rose tint on this, but he’s melted down. He’s been disappointing. I’m disappointed for him.”  Djokovic, who attacked Murray’s second serve effectively, certainly played a role. The match was reminiscent of the 2013 final, which also started with two hard-fought sets before Djokovic broke it open and won, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-2.  Djokovic said he took strength during his difficult moments Sunday by thinking about that match.  “I had that in the back of my mind,” he said.  Now he has another good memory in Melbourne to give him staying power. He was soon delivering a speech at the Australian Open staff party, leading the traditional chant of “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi.”  Such festivities on the final Sunday have become routine for Djokovic, but final Sundays in Melbourne for Murray remain much more somber occasions.  Correction: February 1, 2015 An earlier version of this article misstated Andy Murray’s seeding for the Australian Open. He was the No. 6 seed, not No. 5.  A version of this article appears in print on February 2, 2015, on page D3 of the New York edition with the headline: In Reprise on Melbourne’s Stage, Djokovic Leaves Murray Crushed. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
After a scintillating start to the men’s final, Djokovic cruised in the final two sets to defeat Murray and claim a fifth title in Melbourne.