Murray vs Djokovic Preview

A rare event will occur sunday in Melbourne: a grand slam will be won be someone not named Nadal or Federer. Since 2004 only 4 grand slams have been won by neither Rafa or Roger. Novak Djokovic won one of them in the 2008 Aussie Open. He will look to do that again against the brit Andy Murray. Djokovic has dropped only 1 set so far and that was in a tiebreak against his second round opponent Ivan Dodig. He hit his stride late and dominated Almagro, Berdych and then beat Federer convincingly to make his second career final. Andy Murray has dropped 2 sets so far and also had a much easier road to the final. With his toughest challenge coming from David Ferrer ranked 7th in the world who he beat in 4. This could be a positive or a negative for Murray. A positive because he will be the fresher of the two but Novak having more experience against tougher competition could be a negative. Djokovic is 4-3 in their head to head but Murray has dominated of late winning the last 3 without dropping a set. Novak Djokovic is in his second straight grand slam final while this will be Murray's first and Novak's experience could provide him a crucial edge. After the jump here are some quotes from both players about being in the final and my prediction for the match.     

Murray on playing in his first final: "I'm going to make the most of the opportunity, for sure. I'll give 110 per cent. But I also need to make sure I'm relaxed and calm on the court. I don't want to get myself too worked up.'

Djokovic on playing in his second straight final: "I try not to analyse that too much. It's a finals of a Grand Slam, and it's really unpredictable what's happening in that match," said Djokovic. "Both of us will give the maximum effort to win the title."

Prediction: Both of these players have been playing great and it will come down to who can capitalize on their opponents mistakes. Also, to me the players are so good and so similar that 1 major thing that could change the match. For Novak, it has to be his fitness and endurance from playing in the Davis Cup and then playing Berdych and Federer in his last 2 matches. If Murray can control the pace and this match goes the distance this could be the difference. For Murray, it has to be his inexperience in a grand slam final. It's his first final and he does not just have his own pressure on him but he has an entire country as their hasn't been a British grand slam winner since 1936. If Murray plays tight and nervous early Novak could get out to a lead and never look back. I think if Novak is going to win the match it's going to be in 3 or 4 but if it goes the distance then murray has a great chance.

Prediction: Djokovic in 4 6-2, 7-6, 6-4, 7-5