Above is a picture of Novak Djokovic putting something into his mouth during a changeover in the fourth set of his semifinal victory over Andy Murray at the Australian Open.

It would be wholly unremarkable by itself. Most players eat something during long matches, whether it be power gels or bananas or protein bars. What was strange about this is that Djokovic felt the need to eat the unidentified object behind the cover of terrycloth.

Early indications are that the pairing of Andy Murray and Ivan Lendl was a rousing success. Though Murray wasn't able to defeat Novak Djokovic in their epic Australian Open semifinal, there was a marked change in the Scotsman's on-court demeanor. He didn't play like a petulant child. He played like a petulant man. This will pay dividends down the road for Murray.

How did Lendl do it? Judging by these pictures, all from various points during Friday's fifth set, it was via pure energy and excitement.

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For the third consecutive time, Novak Djokovic will face Rafael Nadal in a Grand Slam final.

The world No. 1 defeated Andy Murray in a five-set epic on Friday night, 6-3, 3-6, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 7-5. It was a wild match that went nearly five hours and featured 15-minute games, 18 breaks of serve and enough momentum swings for an entire tournament.

[Related: Teen tennis star Bernard Tomic's run-in with Australian police]

Murray, who lost to Djokovic in last year's final, had two break point chances at 5-5 in the fifth. The two exchanged a tense, 30-shot rally at 40-30 that concluded with Djokovic screaming a forehand winner down the line. He went on to win the game, then broke Murray on his serve.

He advances to Sunday's final to face Nadal. Djokovic has won six straight matches against the Spaniard, including in each of the last two Grand Slam finals.

Djokovic playing in a physical marathon on Friday would seem to favor Nadal on Sunday. He had the day off after defeating Roger Federer in their semifinal and was able to watch Djokovic fully exert himself to defeat Murray. Watching his opponent play past midnight has to work in Nadal's favor. Right?

(AP)

As if tennis fans needed another reason to adore Kim Clijsters, the four-time Grand Slam champion snuck into the camera pit to watch the end of the Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal match just hours after her heartbreaking Australian Open semifinal loss to Victoria Azarenka.

(Getty Images)

Roger Federer didn't have a Rafael Nadal problem on Thursday night at the Australian Open, he had a Roger Federer problem.

The 16-time Grand Slam champion was plagued by inconsistent groundstrokes, periods of malaise and a puzzling game plan in a 6-7 (5), 6-2, 7-6 (5), 6-4 loss to his longtime rival.

Nadal played spectacular tennis for the first two sets, losing a tight tiebreaker then dominating the second frame, before adopting a more defensive strategy that pressed Federer into making mistakes. The world No. 3 obliged.

Federer hit 63 unforced errors in the match, including a lazy overhead at the baseline that sailed wide on a break point opportunity in the final game. He had trouble putting away points that should have been his, then went for winners when he should have been content to let things play out. Early in the match he was fond of coming to the net and closing off one side of the court, leaving the rest wide open for Rafa to hit a passing shot. Its implementation was bizarre. Sticking with it when Nadal exposed its flaws was suicidal.

There are a number of Australian punters in the NFL. After looking at the quick hands of this ballboy during Thursday's Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal match, there may be some room for some wide receivers from down under.

[Related: Roger Federer falls to Rafael Nadal again in Aussie Open rematch]

I'll have to check the stats, but I think that grab gives the kid the same number of receptions that Green Bay Packers receivers had in the playoffs.

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Whoever first referred to the Australian Open as "the people's Slam" clearly wasn't thinking about folks in the United States. The 3:30 a.m. ET start time of Thursday's semifinal between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal was only convenient for insomniacs, graveyard shift workers and hosts of network morning talk shows.

That didn't stop tennis fans nationwide from staying up late (or getting up early) to watch the 27th meeting between the rivals. In between pouring cups of coffee and doing jumping jacks to stay awake, Busted Racquet was checking Twitter to monitor the condition of all those tennis fans whose Thursdays promise to be bleary-eyed.

A sampling of out favorite tweets:

Australian teen sensation Bernard Tomic allegedly locked himself in his house and accused a police officer of wanting to hit him after he was ticketed twice for separate driving incidents on Thursday.

The 19-year-old was driving with his girlfriend, Donay Meijer, in his orange BMW when he was pulled over for "showing off" in a restaurant district.

Details are sketchy on what happened next, but published reports suggest that a forsenic policeman tried to pull over Tomic again a few hours later, but the Wimbledon quarterfinalist kept driving until he was parked behind the gates at his house. The Herald Sun reports five policemen were waiting for Tomic, who then refused to exit the premises.

"I don't know what's wrong," he later told reporters. "It's like I killed somebody."

An inspector told the Courier Mail that Tomic was "reasonable and understandable" during the process and that he couldn't determine whether the tickets were deserved.