Andy Murray has hinted he could take a break from tennis following his latest Grand Slam near-miss in the Australian Open final.

The out-of-sorts British number one saw his best chance yet to win a major slip through his grasp on Sunday, as Novak Djokovic posted an emphatic straight-sets triumph to land his second Melbourne crown.

The 23-year-old Serb, who came up through the ranks with his same-aged opponent, had too much for the fifth seed as he romped to a 6-4 6-2 6-3 success on Rod Laver Arena.

And Murray put a brave face on his most recent set-back after admitting the defeat was easier to swallow than last year's heartache against Roger Federer, when he broke down in tears at the presentation ceremony.

"It's better than it was last year," said the conquered Scot, who has now lost three major finals as he bids to become the first British male champion since Fred Perry in 1936.

"You know, it was obviously tough, disappointing. I thought Novak played unbelievably well and yeah, it's tough, but I've got to deal with it.

"I was in a much worse state last year than I was this year. I don't know why.

"I'll see what I do from here, you know. I don't know, I might not play for a few months, I might feel like playing in a week's time. It depends - see how I feel."

Improvements

The languid 23-year-old has now failed to muster a set in three Grand Slam final appearances. But the Dunblane right-hander insisted he will not lose any sleep over his failure to land a big title.

"I want to keep working hard, try and improve, but I said before the final, it's not something that I lose sleep over at night," he said.

"It's going to be tough for sure for a few days but I want to try and win one, of course.

"But if it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen. I'm just working as hard as I can. I train very hard, I take tennis very seriously.

"But I love my life away from tennis, as well. That's why maybe this year, compared with last, I'm very, very happy off the court.

"I'm enjoying myself. There's other things to look forward to, too."

Unbelievable

Murray claimed he had no fitness problems heading into the match, despite looking ponderous at times around the court. Instead the Briton, who had a punishing semi-final against David Ferrer on Friday, praised Djokovic for being at the top of his game.

"He played great. I would have liked to have played better but I think he would have beaten every other player on the tour if he played like that tonight," added the world number five.

"He served well, he didn't make many mistakes from the back of the court, he moved really, really well, he hit the ball very clean. That was it.

"He defended unbelievably well tonight so when I got ahead in some games, and even just in points, he was sticking up lobs that were landing on the baseline, passing shots that were very close to the lines.

"So it was quite difficult to find parts of the court where I was getting free points from.

"I think I broke his serve maybe twice in the third set and still lost it 6-3. I was trying to find a way - I just wasn't able to put enough good points together."